Anger grows after boat tragedy
2006-04-03 13:52
Manama - Members of the tightly-knit British community in Bahrain have voiced anger at what they say is negligence over the sinking of a leisure boat last week that claimed almost 60 lives.
Questions have been raised over the seaworthiness of the traditional wooden boat that was packed with foreigners on a company dinner cruise when it capsized on Thursday, amid charges the boat was never meant to put to sea.
Fifty-eight people died, while another 71 were rescued, according the interior ministry's director of information Mohamed bin Dina. One person is still unaccounted for.
The British embassy said 15 Britons, including three with dual nationality, were among the dead, although the interior ministry put the number of British casualties at 13.
All the dead were foreign nationals, with Indians, who make up the largest expatriate community in the small Gulf archipeligo, suffering the worst loss with 21 dead.
Boat was 'not sea-worthy'
"It's outrageous. It is of major concern," Ken Lennox, 61, said as he sat with his wife and friend at the Sherlock Holmes pub in a Manama hotel. "I do believe safety has to be at the core of a country's business and operations."
Authorities say the boat, a traditional dhow known locally as a Banoosh, was unlicensed to make sea trips and that the three-member crew was not properly qualified.
The boat's owner and the tour operator who arranged the trip, both Bahrainis, including one who is a member of the ruling Al-Khalifa dynasty, have traded accusations over whether the two-deck vessel, with 130 people on board, was overloaded.
"It seems that all the systems are in place and all the necessary permits that are required seem to be what you would expect, but it is as if they are not enforced," said Kevin Gradwell, a metalurgist.
Both men said the Bahraini authorities, who have launched a probe into the boat accident, must prove they are conducting a transparent investigation and prosecute those responsible.
security," he said.