Some 127 people were feared drowned after a boat carrying 150 passengers sank off the port of Kribi on Cameroon's Atlantic coast today, state radio said.
The boat was discovered by a local fisherman who alerted his colleagues and people living in coastal villages who rushed to the scene and rescued 23 people, according to the report.
"When the authorities arrived at the area, bodies were seen floating on the sea and some survivors could be seen hanging desperately to cargo while others tried to swim ashore," the report said.
The boat was travelling from the eastern Nigerian port of Oron to Port Gentil in Gabon, and passengers included nationals of Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Benin and Mali.