140 dead as ferry capsizes

BEIJING, Nov 25 (AFP) — At least 140 persons died, many frozen to death, and some 136 were missing after a ferry caught fire and capsized off the eastern Chinese port of Yantai in Shandong province, officials said today.

"The Dashun", carrying 312 passengers and crew, caught fire in heavy seas and gale force winds last afternoon as it headed for the northeastern port of Dalian in Liaoning province, an official of Yanda Ferry Company in Tantai told AFP.

"Most of the people were frozen to death in the lifeboats. No one came to rescue them from the time they sent out the distress signal at 4.30 p.m. (8.30 GMT) yesterday until today morning", the official who identified himself only as Xu told AFP by telephone.

"I don't know why the rescuers didn't come. I feel very, very grieved", he said.

The ferry, imported from Japan some 10 years ago, was about 10 nautical miles from Yantai when the captain saw high waves and strong winds at 4 p.m. and asked the company for permission to return to shore, Xu said.

Flames were then discovered and the fire later spread to the third deck, causing the ship to begin breaking apart.

Xu said the crew of 40 rushed to prepare lifeboats and life jackets for passengers. It was not clear how many people were able to get on the lifeboats before the ship capsized.

The crew "remained at their posts", Xu said, adding that most of them died or remain missing.

All contact was lost with the vessel shortly before midnight, said the official Xinhua news agency.

"All passengers rushed up into the upper deck around 4 p.m. when we saw a lot of smoke coming from the lower decks. The winds were so strong I cannot describe it", one survivor told AFP from his hospital bed.

"I decided to jump into the water because the smoke was so strong it was hard to breathe".

The 28-year-old father of two, who refused to be identified, swam for over an hour to shore, where rescue teams rushed him to hospital.

Hospitals in Yantai began receiving victims early today, with Yantai Mouping District People's Hospital receiving 32 dead from drowning and two survivors.

Zhifu Hospital was notified by the government to send ambulances to the shoreline at 9 p.m. last night, where crews with lights were searching for survivors washed in by the heavy seas.

"The wind was strong and the waves were high and bodies kept coming in and the searchers were getting disappointed because they were all dead", a doctor at Zhifu Hospital told AFP.

Several survivors washed ashore, renewing the hopes of the search teams, she said.

Search teams were still in place early this evening. Xinhua said 16 villages and some 5,000 people were organised to search some 45 km of shoreline for survivors.

Tibetan offices to move near Faridabad
From Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Nov 25 — Compelled by the growing animosity and frequent clashes between the Tibetans and the locals, in various parts of Himachal Pradesh, some of the important offices of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, are being shifted from Mcleodganj, in a phased manner, near Faridabad in Haryana.

The Tibetan Government is also contemplating to build the Dalai Lama's residence at the new site, on the Agra highway. Highly placed sources, told this correspondent, today that to begin with the Department of Education shall be shifted. At a later stage, the offices of the Department of Information and International Relations and Planning would be shifted. He indicated that the entire headquarters of the Tibetan Government might not be shifted, but some important departments are likely to be moved to the new site.

Sources revealed that land had already been acquired near Faridabad, Palwa, a few months back. Once the buildings are ready, the shifting process would begin, in a phased manner. Ever since, the Dalai Lama, left Tibet along with his family and friends, in 1959, he has been residing in his palace, at Mcleodganj. The headquarters of the Tibetan Government in exile with its entire set up, including its Parliament, Kashag (cabinet), the Election Commission and all the other departments have been functioning from here.

It is being felt that gradually that headquarters of the Tibetan Government-in-exile would be shifted to Faridabad-Palwa, as the growing tension between the locals and the Tibetans is becoming a cause of worry for the state government as well as the Tibetan government. Though, at the moment it is being said the Palace of the Dalai Lama, would not be shifted, but its appears that sooner or later it will be done.

The Tibetan Welfare Officer, Mr Dawa Tsering, said it would be difficult to shift the Palace the Dalai Lama of keeping in mind the security aspect and the involvement of the Ministry of External Affairs. He, added that a residence for the Dalai Lama, could be made there, keeping in mind his age and health, as it would be appropriate for him to stay at a warmer place during the winter. "In between his frequent visits abroad, the Dalai Lama, at times, has to travel all the way to Dharamsala for merely two days. So having another residence at Faridabad, will save him from the inconvenience of taking this long journey", stated another official.

To make the entire shifting process look a routine matter some of the Tibetan officials said that this will help a number of Tibetans from the inconvenience of travelling all the way to Dharamsala. They hinted that on a number of occasions the local administration had also conveyed to them that Dharamsala and Mcleodganj were getting over-populated and the resources were not sufficient for all. They admitted that the relations between the locals and the Tibetans were also not very cordial.

Following clashes between the Tibetans and the locals in 1994, the Dalai Lama, had himself stated that if the presence of the Tibetans was causing problems to the locals, he would like to shift from here. At that stage, requests were made not only by the local trading community but even by the state chief minister, asking the Dalai Lama to stay here.

Clashes took place in 1994, when a Gaddi boy was stabbed by a Tibetan in Mcleodganj. Immediately after the incident, the Tibetan Government had thought of buying land near Panchkula, to shift their headquarters.

The latest move to start shifting of offices, has been necessitated after the Manali incident, a few months back, where once again the Tibetans and the locals clashed. A local boy was stabbed to death and another injured by a Tibetan shopkeeper, following which the locals went on a rampage, burning hundreds of Tibetan shops.

After the Manali incident, there were serious deliberations, between the senior state government functionaries and the Tibetan government representatives. The Minister for Religion and Culture, Mr Tashi Wangdi, also met the Chief Secretary, to discuss the issue. Ever since, the matter of shifting offices, was taken up by the Tibetan Government.