One of the worst maritime disasters for many years, involving the loss of 197 lives, occurred in the Persian Gulf on April 8 when the 5,030-ton cargo liner Dara, of the British India Steam Navigation Company, caught fire off the Trucial Oman port of Dubai.
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The Dara had about 580 passengers on board, among them many women and children, and a crew of 130; over 500 were rescued by other vessels and landed at Bahrain, many with severe burns and injuries. Apart from the ship's officers, who were British, nearly all the passengers and crew were Indians, Pakistanis, or Coast Arabs.
The Dara was unloading cargo and embarking and disembarking passengers at Dubai when a violent storm made further port work impossible; shortly afterwards she collided with a Panamanian ship which had fouled her anchor and got out of control, but no apparent damage was done to the Dara herself and all on board remained normal. During the night the Dara moved out of harbour with the intention of riding out the gale offshore and returning to port the following day to complete the loading and unloading. In the early morning of April 8, however, fire broke out below deck amidships and the vessel was rapidly ablaze; several of the lifeboats were rendered useless and passengers flung themselves into the sea, clung to rafts, or crowded into the lifeboats available. As stated, over 500 people were picked up by vessels which hastened to the scene of the disaster in response to S.O.S. calls, among them three British tankers and German, Japanese, and Norwegian ships. Naval detachments from three British frigates were put on board the Data and succeeded in bringing the flames under control after many hours. The Dara, listing heavily, was taken in tow by a tug but sank in 60 ft. of water before she could be brought into Bahrain.
The cause of the disaster was unknown but there was no official substantiation of reports that it might have been due to sabotage. The U.K. Minister of Transport (Mr. Marples) announced on April 11 that an inquiry would be held. (Times - Daily Telegraph - Guardian)
This article comes from Keesings Worldwide Online
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