Captain Neels van Eijk from Whirlwind Aviation flew out over the ocean to help search for survivors and describes what he saw to the BBC
At least 187 people have died after an overloaded ferry sank off the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar with at least 800 people on board.
A government spokesman said 620 survivors had been rescued. Three days of mourning have been declared.
The MV Spice Islander was travelling between Zanzibar's main island, Unguja, and Pemba, the archipelago's other main island - popular tourist destinations.
It is thought to have capsized after losing engine power.
Rescue efforts were hampered by the fact that the overloaded boat had capsized at night.
The ship had been bringing people back from holiday after Ramadan, and had reportedly stopped earlier in Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.
The authorities are struggling to cope and have asked for foreign help.
The Zanzibar government has set up a rescue centre and called upon all reserves to join the rescue effort. It has also called for support from other countries, such as South Africa and Kenya.
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