By IANS,
Tehran: Seventeen people died after a boat sank off the Iranian coast, Fars news agency reported Sunday.
The boat with 22 passengers and crew members aboard was moving from Hormuz Island to the port city of Bandar Abbas in the Persian Gulf. It sank due to the stormy sea conditions, Xinhua reported citing the report.
The boat was on an 18-km journey despite a travel ban on light boats issued by shipping authorities due to a storm with winds of 50 miles per hour, the report added.
Some media reports, however, said the boat had run out of fuel and was tossed about by heavy winds before capsizing. The strong winds also hampered the rescue efforts.
Five people have been rescued and the captain of the boat, who is one of the survivors, is under detention for ignoring local sea officials’ warnings, ISNA news agency quoted an official of the Hormuzghan Ports and Shipping Bureau as saying.