Cruise ship carrying 150 tourists sinks

A PASSENGER boat carrying some 150 tourists, including Westerners, sank off the coast of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf last night and residents said more than 40 bodies were found.

The official Bahrain News Agency (BNA) said the ferry was on an evening cruise that was to last several hours. It overturned less than a mile off the coast, it said.

The passengers were thought to be Bahrainis, other Gulf Arab nationals and Westerners. Interior Ministry spokesman Major Mohammed Ben Dayna said those rescued included foreign tourists and expatriate workers living in Bahrain.

A total of 44 bodies have so far been recovered, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa said late last night.

Speaking on Bahrain television, he said 52 people had been rescued.

“I have seen at least 40 bodies,” said a resident, speaking by telephone from outside a port in the island state.

BNA said 60 passengers had been rescued and taken to hospitals.

“There were about 150 on the ship. Many on board were rescued,” a Bahraini official said.

He declined to say how many may have died.

Ambulances could be heard rushing to another port from which the vessel had set off.

A US Navy spokesman said divers and small vessels were helping in the rescue operations.

“The first report we received was that a Dhow (traditional wooden boat) has capsized. We are preparing a helicopter to join the rescue,” the spokesman said.

“There is no initial indication that this was an attack.”

Pro-Western Bahrain hosts the US Fifth Fleet.

Commmander Jeff Breslau, a spokesman for US Fifth Fleet, said the US personnel were en route, but had no other details.

“We’re sending divers, small boats and a helicopter right now,” he added.

The sinking 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.