Regional examination house postpones Liberia's exams

The West African Examination Council Liberia office has postponed the national exam scheduled to be administered this week, the office said.

The council is a regional education body that administers regional examinations for students in the five English-speaking countries of West Africa, including Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

According to the office, the postponement was triggered by the sinking of a vessel that was transporting nine of the council’s staff members and examination materials from the Freeport of Monrovia to the city of Harper in Maryland county. Its sinking was reported on Sunday morning.

A statement issued by the office on Sunday evening said the examinations will be administered at a later date, which will be announced.

Maritime Commissioner Eugene Lenn Nagbe, speaking earlier, said that the vessel had been banned for safety reasons.

Authorities said earlier they had rescued 11 people, and another 10 were missing.

The government is still investigating the incident, including determining the exact number of people on board.

Tito Logan, communication head and acting general manager of the vessel’s company, HYLAEA Shipping, termed it as an accident.

"What happened was just an accident. You can buy a brand new car today and it can cause an accident," Logan said.