Nearly 200 drown as boat catches fire off Sudan
July 6th, 2011 - 9:27 am ICT by IANSKhartoum, July 6 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Around 200 people, presumably illegal migrants to Saudi Arabia, drowned when their vessel caught fire in the Red Sea off Sudan late Tuesday, Sudanese media reported.
A total of 197 people died in the incident, the Sudanese Media Centre news agency said.
Three people were rescued, and a search for possible survivors was launched, officials said.
The boat was flying a Cuban flag. Four Yemeni nationals, suspected to be owners of the boat, have been detained.
In another incident, a second boat with 247 migrants onboard - mostly nationals of Somalia, Eritrea, Chad, and Nigeria - was detained while travelling in the same sea area.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
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Tags: centre news, chad, cuban flag, eritrea, illegal migrants, khartoum, nationals, news agency, nigeria, red sea, ria novosti, saudi arabia, sea area, somalia, sudan, sudanese media centre, survivors, yemeni