Bahrain Boat Capsizes; 57 Bodies Found

Bahrain Boat Capsizes; 57 Bodies Found

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By JIM KRANE

MANAMA, Bahrain - A cruise boat carrying 137 people capsized in calm seas off the coast of Bahrain, killing at least 57 people from several countries. American divers and a U.S. helicopter aided the rescue effort.

Interior Ministry spokesman Colonel Tarik al-Hassan said 67 people had been rescued, including one American. Thirteen people were missing.

The dead included 17 Indians, 13 British citizens and nationals of Pakistan, South Africa, the Philippines, Singapore, Germany and Ireland, al-Hassan. Eleven had not been identified.

The cause of Thursday's accident was under investigation. The boat's owners said the ship might have been overloaded and capsized when most of the passengers moved to one side, Bahrain television reported Friday.

Al-Hassan said the ship's captain was being questioned.

Some of the missing might have tried to swim ashore since the boat overturned less than a mile off the coast, he added.

"God willing, there will be other survivors," he said. "Search and rescue operations continue, and there is close cooperation with the American navy there."

A passenger on board the boat calling from his cell phone was the first to alert officials that the ship was listing, he said.


Survivor Khalil Mirza of Bahrain told The Associated Press that he made that call. He said the listing began while the craft was making a left turn out of the harbor.

"People were scared in the water," he said. "They were fighting with each other and screaming."

The official Bahrain News Agency said the al-Dana was on an evening cruise that was to last several hours. Television footage showed the boat capsized but not sunk, with rescue workers walking on its brown hull.

U.S. helicopters and divers joined the rescue operation launched by Bahrain's coast guard. Bahrain, a tiny island nation on the western side of the Persian Gulf, is home to the Navy's 5th Fleet.

Rescue teams brought bodies covered with white sheets to shore, and hospital workers hurried them to waiting ambulances. Scores of officials and relatives waited on the dock watching small rescue boats with flashing blue lights bring more bodies and survivors.

Television stations showed what they called a file photo of the al-Dana, which appeared to be 60 to 70 feet long with two decks.

Television footage showed survivors, appearing to be in shock and their hair still wet, squatting on the floor of a hospital. Many of them covered themselves with blankets. One male survivor was shown being treated for cuts to the head.

Survivors, some with blood streaming down their faces, hugged each other. Several wept uncontrollably as friends and relatives tried to calm them. Some survivors needed assistance as they disembarked from a rescue boat that brought them to shore.

Interior Minister Sheik Al Kahlifa said most of the passengers were employees of a Bahrain-based company.

Cmdr. Jeff Breslau, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy, told The Associated Press that the U.S. military aided the rescue effort. The Navy has had a presence in Bahrain for more than 50 years.

"We're sending divers, small boats and a helicopter," Breslau said.

A pair of helicopters could be seen from the shore flying low over the site of the incident. Rescue teams on small boats could also be seen using flashlights to help them search for survivors.

The capsizing of the ship came about two months after an Egyptian ferry sank in the Red Sea, killing about 1,000 people. The vessel was en route from the Saudi port of Dubah to the Egyptian port of Safaga when it went down before dawn about 60 miles off the Egyptian coast.

Bahrain is an oil-exporting and refining archipelago of 688,000 off the coast of Saudi Arabia.