NEARLY 200 DROWN AS BOAT CATCHES FIRE OFF SUDAN

Nearly 200 drown as boat catches

 Fire off Sudan

    Around 200 people, presumably illegal migrants to Saudi Arabia, drowned when their vessel caught fire in the Red Sea off Sudan late Tuesday, 6h, July, 2011, 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, official’s 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.

                                                                                         Prof. John Kurakar