Canadian student ship sinks off Brazil, 64 rescued: official

Rio De Janeiro, Feb 19 (AFP),

Feb 21 2010, 00:04am ist
updated: Feb 21 2010, 00:11am ist

Canadian student ship sinks off Brazil, 64 rescued: official

Survivors of the capsized Canadian Concordia sailing ship are seen arriving at the Mocangue Brazilian navy base in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday. A Brazilian navy spokesman said 64 people, most of them students from Canada’s West Island College, were rescued after the three-masted tall ship Concordia sank 550 km off the Brazilian coast southeast of Rio de Janeiro. AFP

The Concordia, a three-masted sailing ship for a "Class Afloat" programme, sank in the late afternoon yesterday some 550 km off the Brazilian coast after battling strong winds, Commander Romualdo told AFP in a telephone interview from Brasilia.

"The navy received a distress call from the ship and sent reconnaissance aircraft," said the spokesman.So far "64 students, teachers and crew members have been rescued" and are in good health, he said, adding that he was unable to confirm the total number of persons on board the ship.

The student programme is operated by Canada's West Island College International, which is based in Nova Scotia.

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