Cruise Ship Sinks; Passengers Rescued

A cruise ship caught fire and sank off the western coast of Malaysia, and authorities reported that more than 1,100 people were rescued. The Marine Rescue and Coordination Center in Port Klang said officials believed that all passengers and crew had been brought to safety. The passengers--including Americans, Britons, Canadians and Japanese--were rescued from the Bahamian-registered Sun Vista, center spokesman Raja Malik said. “There are no reports of fatalities,” Raja said. At least 1,124 people of 20 nationalities had been picked up by ferries and naval vessels and were arriving on the island of Penang in northwestern Malaysia, Raja said. The cruise began in Singapore and was to end at the resort island of Phuket off Thailand.