Comoros shipwreck - A Comoran ship sailing from Moroni to Mutsamudu sank on Monday night off the coasts of Dzahadjou, about 20 kilometres south of Moroni, with the loss of 60 lives, according to the public prosecutor, Soilihi Mahamoudou.

He said 60 other people including 14 children survived.

National television on Tuesday announced that a three-day national mourning has been ordered by president Ikililou Dhoinine, who expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.

Accounts of survivors say the ship, Al-Majriha, left the port of Moroni around 2150 hours local time on Monday for the island of Anjouan.

They told reporters from their hospital beds that the ship sank two hours into the journey when its two engines broke down.

Rescue workers mobilised on Tuesday from Chindini, including fishermen, the Comoran Red Crescent and gendarmerie, were retrieving bodies of victims.

Pana 10/08/2011