NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: The United States is offering to help the central African nation of Benin find a rusty ship that is carrying some 100 children. The boat has been spotted up and down Africa's Western coast, its crew allegedly peddling the children for sale as slaves. Dan Rivers reports for Britain's Independent Television News.</s>DAN RIVERS, BRITAIN'S INDEPENDENT TELEVISION NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The parents of the missing children in Benin are beginning to fear the worst as the agonizing wait continues. The slave traders who bought their youngsters promised the children would be looked after. Instead, some 250 were crammed into the ship Etireno described as a disease-ridden rust bucket. Experts say child slavery is becoming an increasing problem in West Africa.</s>DR. VINCENT MAGOMBE, AFRICA INFORM INTERNATIONAL: Many, many children, hundreds of thousands of kids, one might say, in the whole region are now going into all sorts of slave trade. Now, this ship that we heard about is just a small bit of that problem. But it's very worrying, because on that ship there are very sick kids. Their conditions are very poor.</s>RIVERS: Now, the families that agreed to sell their children to the crew of the Etireno are having to face the awful possibility that their sons and daughters may never come home. There are fears the slave traders may simply dump their human cargo into the sea. Dan Rivers, ITN.
Slave Ship Spotted off Africa's Western Coast