The Hindu : Front Page : Toll of Indians in Bahrain boat tragedy up

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 02, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Toll of Indians in Bahrain boat tragedy up

Atul Aneja

Vessel was overcrowded; arrangements being made to send the bodies to India

DUBAI: The death toll of Indians in Thursday's boat tragedy near Bahrain's coastline has risen to 21, with the identification of three more bodies. The dead include five women.

A spokesman for the Indian embassy in Bahrain said seven among the dead were from Kerala, three from Tamil Nadu, two each from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and Delhi, and one each from Bihar and Maharashtra.

Details of one of the victims were yet to be ascertained. The process of handing over the bodies and arrangements to send them to India had begun.

The Indian Ambassador to Bahrain, Balkrishna Shetty, told The Hindu over telephone that Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa called him personally to convey his condolences to the bereaved families, the local Indian community and Indian authorities.

Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa would visit the embassy on Sunday.

A total of 57 persons, including 15 British nationals, were killed in the accident.

The captain of the ship, an Indian, and his assistant have been detained as probe into the tragedy has begun.

The owner, Abdullah al-Qubaisi, said the boat with 126 passengers was overloaded as it was headed for a "dinner cruise."

The captain, he said, was forced to sail despite his complaint that the vessel was overcrowded.

According to one of the survivors, the packed wooden boat began to list after it hit a wave, causing heavy kitchen equipment, including a refrigerator, to fall and accumulate on one side of the vessel. The boat capsized quickly thereafter.

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