At least 57 killed as cruise boat sinks

THE owners of a pleasure boat, which capsized off the coast of Bahrain killing 57 people, last night suggested that overcrowding may have caused the disaster.

Up to 63 passengers were rescued from the boat, whose owners said it may have turned over because of the numbers onboard - at least 120.

Abdullan al-Qubaisi, of the Al-Dana company that owns the boat, reportedly told state television: "It has a capacity of 200 but it is allowed to carry only 100 passengers. They loaded the boat with more than its capacity. The captain refused to sail but they forced him to leave."

One Irishman was among the victims, who also included at least 12 Britons, 17 Indians, four South Africans, four Singaporeans, three Pakistanis, three Filipinos, one German and 12 others.

Most of the people on board were employees, and their partners, of the company Murray & Roberts and other firms associated with the Bahrain World Trade Centre towers construction project.

The passengers were celebrating the completion of part of the building scheme.

The tragedy occurred at about 9.45pm local time (7.45pm Irish time), shortly after the Arabic dhow set sail for a two-hour trip from the Marina Club in Manama, Bahrain's capital.

Survivors said the boat capsized without any warning as it returned to the port of Al Muharraq, in the far north-east corner of the island state.

Reporter Mazeeha Saeed said passengers could still be seen in the water, clinging to pieces of wood, when she arrived at the scene.

She said: "Survivors were trying to swim or holding on to a piece of wood or something to save themselves.

"They don't know how it happened because it happened in seconds."

During the rescue operation, US helicopters and divers helped Bahrain coast guards search the water.

Bahrain coast guard chief Youssef al-Katem said an investigation was underway, although it is understood weather conditions in the area were not to blame.

Murray & Roberts said 10 of its staff had died in the sinking. Chief executive of Murray & Roberts Brian Bruce said an estimated 50 senior employees from several companies working on the World Trade Centre project had died.

"Things were going all right, people were dancing, people were having fun, but the boat was very crowded," Bahraini survivor Khalil Mirza said.

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

Mr Mirza said the boat listed as it made a left turn soon after it left the harbour and that he used his mobile phone to sound the alarm.

The Bahraini coast guard confirmed that a survivor had made the distress call using a mobile phone.

Mr al-Katem told a news conference overcrowding or a technical problem were possible reasons for the sudden capsizing of the boat, but that a full investigation would show why it overturned.

The Al-Dana was a two-deck wood and fibreglass dhow-like vessel, powered by a motor and with room for dining and dancing.

It was used in the harbour and for trips to nearby islands.

Another survivor said that although the trouble began when the boat took a sharp turn, he didn't believe that overcrowding caused it to tip.

"The stability of the boat wasn't good," Indian engineer Jai Kumar George said.

"It was oscillating so strongly when other boats were stable. There were people dancing [on the upper deck] then the boat started to tip.

"I fell on the floor, crashed through the safety bar and slipped into the sea," said Mr George.

He said that he was lucky to have been on the upper deck and he believed that most of those who died were on the lower deck.