The ''al-Dana'' was a motorised Arabic

dhow Dhow ( ar, داو, translit=dāwa; mr, script=Latn, dāw) is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with settee or sometimes lateen sails, used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Typically spo ...

passenger ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

. It was sailing off

Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very di ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

, when it capsized in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

on March 30, 2006. As of March 31, 67 out of the 150 people on board had been rescued, and 58 have been confirmed dead. Around 40 more are missing. The confirmed dead include 17

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

ns and 12

Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...

s. Most of the passengers were foreigners from the Nass-Murray & Roberts joint venture construction company who were celebrating completion of part of the

Bahrain World Trade Centre The Bahrain World Trade Center (also called Bahrain WTC or BWTC) is a , 50-floor, twin tower complex located in Manama, Bahrain. Designed by the multi-national architectural firm Atkins, construction on the towers was completed in 2008. It is the ...

towers. Ten of the dead were employed by the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n construction compan
Murray & Roberts Limited
four of these were South African employees, two were Indian, one was from Pakistan and another was a South African partner.

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's stat ...

has reported that a sixth South African died in the

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

. Bahrain's coastguard service was involved in an immediate rescue operation, reaching minutes after the disaster. The United States Navy's United States 5th Fleet, Fifth Fleet helped with the rescue effort with divers and small naval craft.

Additional information

* The ''Gulf Daily News'' has reported that the Ship, vessel was licensed as a floating restaurant and that it was supposed to remain Berth (moorings), berthed at the quay.

External links

BBC

Bahrain ferry disaster kills 48; 63 rescued
from Fox News Channel
Report
from Al Jazeera Media Network, Al Jazeera
Many die in Bahrain boat disaster
from BBC {{coord missing, Bahrain Maritime incidents in 2006 2006 in Bahrain Persian Gulf Transport disasters in Bahrain Shipwrecks in the Persian Gulf