18 Indians among 57 dead in Bahrain boat mishap

     Manama: Eighteen Indians have been confirmed dead in the Bahrain boat capsize accident which has killed 57 people, according to a Bahraini Interior Ministry official. Among others who have died are 13 Britishers, four South Africans, four Singaporeans and three Pakistanis. The incident took place late on Thursday night when a cruise boat carrying 150 people overturned and sank a kilometre off the coast of the Shaikh Khalifa Causeway, which links Mina Salman and Muharraq. The official also informed that 67 people have been rescued while 13 people are still missing. Among those rescued from the al-Dana vessel wreckage, 30 are Indians and nine British citizens. The cruise ship had the capacity to carry only 100 people. However, the event management officials are said to have insisted on taking more passengers onboard, overruling the ship's captain.

    Preliminary reports suggest that at the time of mishap, the passengers consisted of employees of the Nass-Murray and Roberts consortium that had chartered the boat for a dinner cruise to celebrate the end of the company's construction of the 50-story World Trade Center in Manama. Bahrain's Interior Minister, Sheikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, said that as per the initial probe there was no indication of any terrorist activity linked to the mishap. Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Hassan said the cause of the incident was not known, and that it will soon be investigated. An immediate rescue operation was launched by Bahrain's coastguard service which was followed by US divers and small naval craft from the US 5th Fleet. "We were nearby - it happened about one mile east of where we're headquartered so as soon as we got the call we immediately started to move our people and our boats to that area within probably about 15 or 20 minutes," BBC quoted Commander Jeff Breslau, spokesman for the US Fifth Fleet. The Bahrain Interior Ministry has set up a hot line for people seeking information about the passengers. In early February, an Egyptian ferry -- the Al Salam Boccaccio 98 -- sank in rough Red Sea waters that left around 1,000 passengers dead. The names of the deceased identified are: Sikhil Babu, Abdul Latif Abdul Wahab, Saravana Kumar Murugesan, Nag Bhushan Pilla, Smt. Nag Bhushan Pilla, Chennalappan Thirugnnan, Santosh Chakra Puthenpurq, Kuthyil Mohd. Majeed, Saur Suhas Thorar, Mathukumar Murugan, Arby Mathews, Basant Kumar, Clarence William, Sayeed Farooq Syed Ahmed, Siru Arby, Uday Raj, Alok Kumar Verma, Hassnein.

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