Israeli divers find two bodies after ship collision
Israeli police divers found the bodies of two sailors missing in the Mediterranean Sea this morning, 12 hours after their cargo ship sank in a collision with a passenger liner.
They were found inside the sunken ship, where the crewmen had apparently been trapped when their vessel was accidentally rammed by a Cypriot passenger ship last night, the Israel Police said in an official announcement.
The discovery followed an intensive search that included six Israeli navy boats, several aircraft and divers.
Police said the dead men were the ship’s first mate and engineer, both residents of Slovakia.
The cargo ship was anchored two miles from Israel’s coast, near the port city of Haifa, when it was hit by the Cypriot passenger ship, said Brig. Gen. Ram Rutberg of the Israeli navy.
Eleven of the cargo ship’s 13 crew members managed to escape from their sinking craft in a rescue launch lowered by the passenger liner and were picked up by the navy, Rutberg said.
The passenger ship was not seriously damaged and no one aboard was hurt, he said.
