FREETOWN - At least 50 people are dead and 148 others are missing after a coastal ferry capsized overnight in rough seas off northern Sierra Leone, a port official said Friday.

"According to the report we received, 50 people perished, two were rescued while 148 others remain unaccounted for," the official, who asked not to be named for protocol reasons, told AFP.

A local radio reporter in the area confirmed the accident.

The boat met "hostile weather near a coastal village called Bailor at 10:00 pm (2200 GMT) resulting in the catastrophe", Alex Koroma, a station manager for Radio Kolenten, told AFP by telephone from the region bordering Guinea.

The ports authority official in the capital said the boat was heading from Freetown to Rokumi village when it ran into a storm.

The vessel, named Amunafa and powered by outboard motors, regularly ferries goods and people between Sierra Leone's coastal towns and villages.

At the time of the accident, it also had in addition to the 200 passengers, some 300 huge bags of rice on board.