* Boat carrying 41 capsizes off bay
* Two French nationals among the rescued
(Changes dateline, updates death toll)
CAPE TOWN Oct 13 (Reuters) – One person was killed and two
more were missing after a charter boat on a popular sight-seeing
trip capsized off South Africa’s Hout Bay near Cape Town, rescue
officials said on Saturday.
Two of those rescued from the twin-hulled catamaran
“Miroshga” were French women, said Craig Lambinon, spokesman for
the National Sea Rescue Institute. The boat was carrying 41
people, including crew, at the time of the accident, he said.
“We recovered one person out of the hull, who has been
hospitalised in a stable but serious condition,” Lambinon said,
adding that rescuers were trying to free another two under the
hull.
It was unclear what caused the boat to capsize in the cold
waters close to Duiker Island, about three km from Hout Bay on
the Atlantic Ocean side of the Cape Peninsula.
The island is a popular destination for tourists eager to
catch a glimpse of thousands of seals found there.
Local media had previously reported that at least four
people had died.
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Alison Williams and
Jason Webb)
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