A tragic incident occurred off the north coast of Mozambique as a makeshift ferry boat capsized, claiming the lives of 96 people, including children, according to authorities who revised the initial death toll.

The vessel, a converted fishing boat carrying approximately 130 passengers, encountered difficulties late on Sunday while attempting to reach an island off Nampula province.

Reports suggest that most passengers were fleeing the mainland due to a panic fueled by misinformation about cholera, as stated by Nampula's secretary of state, Jaime Neto.

Authorities had previously noted that the boat's sinking was attributed to overcrowding and its unsuitability for passenger transport.

"Five more (bodies) have been found in the last few hours. Therefore, we are talking about 96 deaths," Silverio Nauaito, the island's administrator, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Three of the five were children, he added.

Rescuers have found 11 survivors, and search operations are continuing, the official said.

Earlier, officials had said 91 people lost their lives.

The southern African country, one of the world's poorest, has recorded almost 15,000 cases of cholera and 32 deaths since October, according to government data.

Nampula is the worst-affected region, accounting for a third of all cases.

In recent months, the province has also received a large influx of people fleeing a wave of terrorist attacks in its northern neighbor of Cabo Delgado.

Missing at sea

The boat was headed to the Island of Mozambique, a small coral islet that used to serve as the capital of Portuguese East Africa and gave its name to the country.

Unverified footage circulating online appeared to show dozens of bodies covered by blankets lying on a beach.

Nauaito said it was unclear how many people were missing at sea as authorities had yet to determine the exact number of passengers.

A trading post on the route to India, initially used by Arab merchants, the Island of Mozambique was claimed for Portugal by famed explorer Vasco da Gama.

Hosting a fortified city and linked to the mainland by a bridge built in the 1960s, the island is listed as a World Heritage Site by the UN's culture agency, UNESCO.

Mozambique, which has a long Indian Ocean coastline, was a Portuguese colony until independence in 1975.

Home to more than 30 million people, it is regularly hit by destructive cyclones.

In March, at least one person died as an illegal fishing vessel foundered near a southern beach.

With almost two-thirds of the population living in poverty, Mozambique has high hopes for the vast natural gas deposits discovered in Cabo Delgado in 2010.

But an insurgency since 2017 waged by terrorists linked to the Daesh group has stalled progress.

More than 5,000 people have been killed and almost a million have been forced to flee their homes since the fighting began.