30108: (news) Chamberlain: Burning ship sinks off Haiti, 52 dead or missing (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2007 18:35:55 -0500

     By Jane Sutton

     MIAMI, March 1 (Reuters) - Two Haitians were rescued from the sea in
poor condition and as many as 52 others were dead or missing from a
sail-powered freighter that caught fire and capsized off Haiti, the U.S.
Coast Guard said on Thursday.
     A yacht crew rescued the two survivors on Wednesday and they were
taken to a hospital in the Dominican Republic for treatment of severe burns
and dehydration, the Coast Guard said.
     The crew of the Liberian-flagged merchant ship Kemeri recovered eight
bodies and joined the Coast Guard search for 44 additional passengers who
were believed to be missing, based on the survivors' account of the number
of people aboard.
     The survivors said their vessel left Haiti from the northern coastal
town of Cap-Haitien but did not indicate when it sailed. It was headed for
Providenciales 150 miles (240 km) away in the Turks and Caicos island chain
when it sank about 25 miles from the border that separates Haiti and the
Dominican Republic, the Coast Guard said.