10 Algerian asylum seekers die
2007-12-05 13:19
The Hague - Ten people believed to be Algerian asylum seekers drowned during an abortive rescue attempt after a Dutch ship tried to lift them from their tiny boat in the storm-tossed Mediterranean Sea, the Dutch ship's agent said on Wednesday. Two men survived the ordeal.
The drowning happened on Monday night after the ship Fairpartner tried to bring the migrants on board about 200km west of Algiers, said the company, Kahn Scheepvaart.
The men in the overcrowded boat had shouted and signalled for the ship to come to their aid, said company official Arnold van der Heul.
Van der Heul said: "That's when it went terribly wrong. The boat collided hard with the back of the Fairpartner and began to leak. It immediately capsized and all aboard ended up in the water."
The crew of the Fairpartner threw life vests and nets to the migrants and launched a life raft. A Spanish Navy rescue helicopter and surveillance aircraft equipped with infrared camera joined the search in the darkness, but only two survivors were found.
An Algerian Navy ship also was involved in the rescue attempt and took the two survivors and the only body recovered from the water back to Algeria, Van der Heul said.
The Dutch ship was on its way from the Turkish port of Derince to Plymouth in England.
- AP