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At least 57 people have died after a tourist ship carrying more than 130 passengers sank off the coast of Bahrain late Thursday, according to news reports reaching Cairo on Friday.

 

A total of 63 people had been rescued so far, Coastguard commander Youssif al-Ghatam was quoted as saying. Rescue work was still underway to search for survivors.

 

The boat was on an evening cruise that was expected to last a couple of hours, the official Bahrain News Agency said, adding it overturned less than a mile off the coast of Bahrain.

 

There was no indication of what caused the boat to capsize, as the weather conditions were fine in the area. U.S. and Bahraini officials have ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack. Overloading could have caused the boat to capsize, the boat's owner said.

 

The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, had dispatched helicopters, divers and ships to assist in the rescue and recovery operation.

 

Most passengers, thought to be a mix of Bahrainis, nationals of other Gulf nations and Westerners, were employees of a Bahrain-based company.

 

Bahrain's security information director, Mohammad Ben Dine, said passengers included 25 British nationals, 20 Filipinos, 10 South Africans, 10 Egyptians and a number of Indians Americans and Bangladeshis.

 

Bahrain is a wealthy Arab kingdom and a financial hub in the Gulf region. It is also a close ally with the United States, hosting the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.

 

Thursday's accident came less than two months after an Egyptian passenger ferry sank in the Red Sea on Feb. 3, killing some 1,000 people.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2006)