13 Indians, 12 Nepalis feared killed in Qatar ship capsize

Twenty-nine people, including 13 Indians and 12 Nepalis, are feared to have perished in a ship capsize off Doha Port in Qatar after searches for survivors since Tuesday yielded only five bodies.

Only two of the bodies have been identified so far, Nepal's foreign ministry told IANS. They are Sheshnath Yadav, 33, from Mahottari in Nepal, and Tilak Bahadur Khamja, 36, from Palpa.

Twenty-nine people went missing after the Demas Victory, a standby vessel hired by the Doha-based HBK Power Cleaning Company, ran into rough weather early Tuesday morning and sank near Doha Port.

There were 35 people on board - the nine-member crew, two caterers, both of whom are Indians, and 24 people employed by HBK.

The employees included 11 Indians, 12 Nepalis and a Bangladeshi.

Five members of the crew - three Indians and two Indonesians - have been rescued, foreign ministry spokesman Madan Kumar Bhattarai said.

They are Mohamed Nasrun (captain), Irwan Dedy Mansyur (chief engineer), both from Indonesia, and Indians Balakrishnan Velayudhan, Jason Varghese and Appa Rao Pothanpalli.

After a request by the Indian Embassy in Doha, HBK released the names of the 24 employees who are feared to have died trapped in their cabins.

Most of the Indians are from Kerala.

The missing Indian employees are Shaukat Jafar, Mohamed Rafeeq Zamadar, Mohamed Ameen, Moidunni Kutty (from Malappuram in Kerala), Abdul Hakeem, Ramzan Umar Khan Shaikh, Narayanan Reghunathan (from Kollam in Kerala), Maeen Nazir Khan Parihar, Mohamed Mojammil Hussain, Mohamed Shakeel Nirwan, and Muzaffar Hussain.

Also feared dead are the vessel's chief officer Joseph Soosai Lourde, and crew members Prabhu Chellum and Josemon Vashapalli, all of whom are from India.

Bhattarai said there was little hope of rescuing the 10 Nepalis who are missing still, especially after Yadav and Khamja's bodies were found.

The missing Nepalis are Rajiv Kumar Datta, Ganga Bahadur Gurung, Lila Ram Poudel, Mehdi Hussain Miya, Awas Ahmed Shai, Rishi Parsad Sharma Poudel, Mann Singh Khatri, Seshnath Yadav, Tilak Bahadur Kharncha, Jaya Bahadur Pumnagar, Ghan Shyam Sarki and Shankar Bist.

The lone Bangladeshi on the ship, also feared to be dead, is Mia Hossain.

The identities of the two missing Indian caterers are yet to be ascertained.

Bhattarai said the bodies would be handed over only after formalities are complete.

Last updated on Jul 2^nd, 2009 at 13:53 pm IST--IANS