WELLINGTON: Up to eight people are feared dead after a chartered fishing boat sank in New Zealand on Saturday, police said.

Five bodies have been recovered and three people remain missing seven hours after the vessel overturned near Kaipara Harbour, north of Auckland.

The police initially said six people had been pulled from the water but later confirmed only three survivors had been found.

“The bodies of five people have been recovered from Kaipara Harbour,” the police said in a statement.

“Three other people have been rescued and are in hospital. A search for a further three people will continue.”

Police have been told that 11 people were on the boat, known as The Francie, which went down when returning to the harbor in the afternoon.

The Francie, listed as a 12-meter (40-foot) long boat that can carry a maximum of 22 people, capsized at the entrance to Kaipara Harbor.

Police inspector Duncan Hall told reporters a shoreline search would continue during the night for the missing three people but an aerial search had been called off.

“Conditions are not suitable for an air search to continue tonight due to a significant sea swell. Visibility is poor, which would put rescue aircraft and their crews at risk,” he said.

A former skipper of The Francie, who now operates another charter boat, told the New Zealand Herald that conditions were “too rough” to have taken the vessel out of the harbor.

“I stayed home, I’m not stupid,” the Herald quoted Rod Bridge as saying.

“The wind was coming up and the swell was coming up. You wouldn’t go out over the bar.” AFP </s> WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Seven people were killed and another person was missing in a boating accident near Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, police said.

Inspector Duncan Hall said the chartered fishing boat Francie was carrying 11 people when it got into trouble in Kaipara Harbour near Auckland. He said rescuers managed to pull three survivors from the water, who were taken to a local hospital.

He said rescuers also recovered five bodies from the water soon after the accident. Another two bodies washed ashore at nearby beaches and were found early Sunday.

Hall said in a statement that the fishing boat was reported as overdue to emergency services at 3:30 p.m. Police were still trying to establish what happened to the boat and how its occupants ended up in the water. Hall said conditions on Saturday were poor, with large sea swells.

An air search for the missing person was suspended overnight and resumed on Sunday in the harbor, which is about 75 kilometers (47 miles) northwest of Auckland.

Eyewitnesses told Television New Zealand that rescuers in helicopters plucked the survivors from the water and placed them on a beach, where locals kept them warm until ambulances arrived.

The TV station reported that the accident happened at the entrance to the harbor, an area which is notorious for producing treacherous conditions for boats.

The Facebook page for Francie Charters says its boat Francie is licensed to carry up to 20 people with two crew members. It shows customers using lines to catch snapper and other fish, and encountering dolphins. </s> WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Five people are dead and three others missing after a boating accident in New Zealand, according to police.

Inspector Duncan Hall said that a boat carrying 11 people got into trouble on Saturday in Kaipara Harbour near Auckland. He said rescuers managed to pull three survivors from the water, who were taken to a hospital. He said rescuers also recovered five bodies.

Hall said in a statement the boat was reported as overdue to emergency services at 3:30 p.m. Police were still trying to establish what happened to the boat and how its occupants ended up in the water.

Hall said teams had ended an aerial search for the night and would start again early Sunday.

The New Zealand Herald newspaper reported the vessel was a chartered fishing boat. </s> Five people are dead and three others are missing after a boating accident in New Zealand, police said.

Inspector Duncan Hall said a boat carrying 11 people got into trouble in Kaipara Harbour near Auckland on Saturday.

He said rescuers managed to pull three survivors from the water, who were taken to hospital. He said rescuers also recovered five bodies.

Mr Hall said in a statement that the boat had been reported as overdue to emergency services. Police were still trying to establish what happened to the boat and how its occupants ended up in the water. He said conditions on Saturday were poor, with large sea swells.

He said teams had ended an aerial search for the missing people and would resume searching again early Sunday.

Television New Zealand reported the vessel was a chartered fishing boat and that rescuers had arrived in helicopters, plucking the survivors from the water and placing them on a beach, where locals kept them warm while waiting for ambulances. </s> next Image 1 of 2

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Seven people were killed and another person was missing after a chartered fishing boat disappeared from view in large waves at the entrance to a harbor near Auckland, New Zealand authorities said.

The boat Francie was carrying 11 people when it got into trouble on Saturday afternoon in Kaipara Harbour. Rescuers managed to pull three survivors from the water, who were taken to a hospital. A search for the missing person was continuing Sunday, said police Inspector Duncan Hall.

Crew members from the boat notified the coast guard that they were attempting to cross a sandbar at the entrance to the harbor at about 2 p.m., said Patrick Holmes, the chief executive of Coastguard New Zealand.

He said the coast guard raised the alarm an hour later after the boat didn't report back and could no longer be reached on its marine radio or by mobile phone.

Other boats in the area reported to the coast guard that they could no longer see the boat, although he wasn't yet clear if it had sunk. An investigation was underway.

Waves at the sandbar were about four meters (13 feet) high at the time of the accident, Holmes said. Sandbars are formed by sand building up on the seafloor, something which can happen at harbor entrances where the ocean meets calmer harbor water.

"All sandbar crossings are dangerous. They shift with storms and tides, so the bars are not in exactly the same position," Holmes said. "Because it's a disturbance of the seafloor, the action of the waves becomes distorted and irregular."

Eyewitnesses told Television New Zealand that rescuers in helicopters plucked the survivors from the water and placed them on a beach, where locals kept them warm until ambulances arrived.

Police said they were still trying to establish what happened to the boat and how its occupants ended up in the harbor, which is about 75 kilometers (47 miles) northwest of Auckland.

Inspector Hall said rescuers recovered five bodies from the water soon after the accident. Another two bodies washed ashore at nearby beaches and were found early Sunday.

The Facebook page for Francie Charters says its boat Francie is licensed to carry up to 20 people with two crew members. It shows customers using fishing rods to catch snapper and other fish, and encountering dolphins. </s> KAMPALA: At least 10 people have died after a boat capsized in Lake Victoria on Saturday evening while more than 40 others were rescued, Ugandan police said.

"The rescue mission is still on to find others," said police spokesman Emilian Kayima. </s> Seven survivors from a ferry which disappeared more than a week ago have been found by search and rescue teams in the Pacific Ocean.

The boat was found drifting in the search area on Sunday morning, eight days after the MV Buitraoi ferry, carrying around 50 people, went missing off the coast of Kiribati.

But 43 people are feared dead with the ferry still missing and more than half of the search area already covered.

The crew of a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion plane located the boat two hours into the search on Sunday morning for the MV Butiraoi, a 17.5 metre wooden catamaran.

The New Zealand Defence Force confirmed the seven people found were on board the vessel after an air force plane spotted the small boat.

Authorities believe it was one of two boats carried on the side of the ferry.

All the people who were on board the ferry are thought to be locals.

Efforts are now being coordinated with a fishing vessel 92km away to pick up the survivors.

The FV Lomalo is expected to rendezvous with the survivors on Sunday afternoon, Air Commodore Darryn Webb, the Air Component Commander for the NZDF said.

'The Orion will continue to search the area, making every effort to locate any more survivors, while awaiting the rendezvous with the fishing vessel,' Air Commodore Webb added.

The missing ferry, which had 50 passengers on board, was due to arrive in Betio, the country's captial, on January 20 after departing Nonouiti Island.

“The group seem very relieved to have been found when the NZ Airforce Orion dropped supplies, including water and a radio, to them about 10am today,” said John Ashby, senior search and rescue officer of the Rescue Coordination Centre of New Zealand.

Local authorities said the boat ran aground and underwent repairs to its propeller shaft before it left Nonouti Island.

It has a high frequency radio but it is not known whether it has enough fuel and emergency supplies on board.

The 240km inter-island voyage was due to take two days to complete.

Seven people are on board the small five metre boat and teams from the NZ Orion aircraft have dropped emergency aid including a radio into the water.

A spokesman from the New Zealand Defence Force said they could not confirm whether the people are from the missing ferry.

Crews have attempted to reach communication with the boat but say they have not been able to ascertain its origin.

Rescue efforts are being co-ordinated between New Zealand, Fiji and Kiribati authorities.

The ferry is described as having a dark blue hull and yellow cabin fixed on top.

The Rescue Coordination Centre of New Zealand (RCCNZ) has so far scoured more than half of the possible search area - estimated to be the size of New Zealand.

Radio transmissions have been broadcast along the coastline and contact has been made with each island for sightings.

John Ashby, a senior search and rescue officer with the RCCNZ, said earlier: 'We are doing everything we can to locate this ferry and its passengers.

'We understand the vessel underwent repairs to its propeller shaft just before it departed. This may have contributed to problems navigating the journey.'

Kiribati is a collection of 33 islands with a population of 110,000 people, with the largest group located 1,500km north of Fiji. </s> Dozens of people are still missing in waters off the resort island of Phuket after a diving boat packed with tourists capsized in a storm.

The commander of Phuket Provincial Police, Teerapol Tipcharoen, said seas have calmed since the Thursday evening’s accident and the search is ongoing for the 56 missing people.

The boat was carrying 105 passengers, including 93 tourists, 11 crew and one tour guide when it toppled in five metre-high seas on Thursday.

One Chinese male passenger has been confirmed dead, and at least 12 people hospitalised.

Phuket Governor Norraphat Plodthong said 48 passengers were rescued from the boat, with 49 unaccounted for.

Police previously said 90 people had been rescued from the boat and just seven were missing.

Another boat also overturned off Phuket on Thursday and officials said all 42 on board have been rescued.

Thai media showed photos of rescued people in large rubber life rafts at sea, with fishing boats and churning water in the background.

The images also showed survivors being lifted from the rafts and sitting in life jackets amid ropes on the deck of what appears to be a fishing trawler.

Phuket officials had earlier issued a warning of severe weather until Tuesday, including heavy rain and winds.

“All agencies are co-operating in their search at this time,” Mr Norraphat said. “We have given warnings… but the winds are strong.”

He said officials would consider whether to ban boats from going to sea during strong winds. </s> At least one man died and scores of Chinese tourists went missing after a boat capsized off the popular southern island resort in Thailand. The boat, the Phoenix, was carrying nearly 105 passengers in the Andaman Sea. It was hit by massive waves which prompted it to keel over. The search operation resumed on Friday after helicopters dispatched to the search area. Nearly 49 people are still missing.
At least seven people are dead, one person is missing and three others are rescued after a chartered fishing boat capsizes due to large waves in Kaipara Harbour, New Zealand.