<p>At least 17 people died and around 60 were missing after a boat sank off the northeast coast of Madagascar early Monday, maritime authorities said.</p>.<p>Port authority chief Jean Edmond Randrianantenaina said 45 of the 130 passengers aboard the vessel were rescued and searches were continuing for the others with the help of local volunteers.</p>.<p>He said the vessel was a cargo ship that had taken on passengers illegally.</p>.<p>Another port authority official, Adrien Fabrice Ratsimbazafy, said that after a "technical problem" affecting the engine, the boat found itself at the "mercy of the waves and foundered on a reef".</p>.<p>A team of gendarmes was headed to the site and an investigation was opened in the island nation off the southeastern coast of Africa.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH videos here:</strong></p>
<p>At least 17 people died and around 60 were missing after a boat sank off the northeast coast of Madagascar early Monday, maritime authorities said.</p>.<p>Port authority chief Jean Edmond Randrianantenaina said 45 of the 130 passengers aboard the vessel were rescued and searches were continuing for the others with the help of local volunteers.</p>.<p>He said the vessel was a cargo ship that had taken on passengers illegally.</p>.<p>Another port authority official, Adrien Fabrice Ratsimbazafy, said that after a "technical problem" affecting the engine, the boat found itself at the "mercy of the waves and foundered on a reef".</p>.<p>A team of gendarmes was headed to the site and an investigation was opened in the island nation off the southeastern coast of Africa.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH videos here:</strong></p>