The return of a ferry at the center of a frantic hunt for scores of suspected child slaves raised more questions than answers Tuesday, with puzzled officials unable to say whether the child traffickers were still at large - or if there ever was a slave ship.

Aid workers said they took a number of unaccompanied minors from the ferry to two children's homes in the commercial capital, Cotonou, where they were being fed and allowed to rest before being interviewed by police. They and U.N. officials said it was too early to say whether or not the children were intended for slavery.

(Eastday.com 04/18/2001)