The Greek oil tanker Katina P was deliberately run aground off Maputo, Mozambique, after losing a hull plate at sea, spilling thousands of tonnes of oil in one of the region's worst environmental disasters.
DisasterOn this day — April 17 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 2008 Aimé Césaire, Martinican poet and politician who co-founded the Négritude literary movement celebrating Black identity and culture, died in Fort-de-France.
Death
Erik (White African) Hersman — CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 2013 Bi Kidude, celebrated Tanzanian taarab singer from Zanzibar known as the 'queen of taarab,' died at an estimated age of over 100.
Death
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 2013 Carlos Graça, politician who served as Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe, died.
Death
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1993 Gamal Hamdan, Egyptian scholar and geographer renowned for his multi-volume study of Egypt's personality and geography, died in Cairo.
Death