30394: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Ferry Crash (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 25 (AP) -- A ferry packed with more than 300
people hit a sandbar off Haiti's southern peninsula and pitched passengers
overboard, killing at least nine and injuring dozens, officials said
Wednesday.
   The ferry was pulling out of port Tuesday when it hit a sandbar off the
town of Jeremie, local official Jean Christin Joassin told the private
Radio Metropole. The impact caused the ferry to tip to one side, tossing
dozens of people -- including several children -- into the sea.
   Rescuers recovered nine bodies and were searching for more, though the
number of missing was unknown, Joassin said. At least 47 people were
hospitalized.
   The 560-ton ferry, built to hold 250 people, had been making a weekly
trip to the capital of Port-au-Prince and was loaded with commercial goods.
It later returned to shore after being pulled free by a larger boat.
   As word of the crash spread, thousands of frantic people rushed toward
the port, and police used tear gas to disperse them, Radio Kiskeya
reported.
   Hundreds of uninjured passengers were being housed in shelters.