Cheche Disaster

Cheche Disaster

Location of Chéché in Guinea-Bissau
Location	Chéché, Guinea-Bissau
Date	6 February 1969
Fatalities	47 Portuguese, 5 Guinean
Cause	Ferry tipping

Coordinates: 11°55′52″N 14°12′48″W / 11.931102°N 14.213288°W / 11.931102; -14.213288 The Cheche Disaster (Portuguese: Desastre do Cheche) was an incident during the Portuguese Colonial War in what is now Guinea-Bissau in which almost fifty Portuguese soldiers died on 6 February 1969 while crossing the Corubal River.

When Brigadier António de Spínola came to Guinea in 1968 as Governor and Commander in Chief, he decided to evacuate the Portuguese troops in the east of the country, which was thinly populated and of no strategic value. The camp at Madina do Boé was surrounded and was suffering constant attacks by the PAIGC guerillas of Amílcar Cabral. The position was untenable. It was occupied by PAIGC forces the same day that the Portuguese evacuated it. The retreating force included Caçadores ("Hunters") company 1790, commanded by Captain José Aparício, more troops from company 2405 and Guinean militia.

Moving the troops, vehicles and equipment over 22 kilometres (14 mi) to Chéché, on the south bank of the Corubal River, was a difficult operation but was completed successfully. On the afternoon of 5 February 1969 the force began to use two ferries to cross the river from south to north. With repeated trips, 100 tons of equipment and ammunition, 28 heavy vehicles and about 500 men made the crossing. The ferries were rafts about 4 by 6 metres (13 by 20 ft). The wooden platforms were supported by canoes and empty diesel barrels, and pulled by a boat with an outboard engine.