ALGIERS, Nov 15 (AFP) - Two of 18 sailors reported missing after three boats were shipwrecked off the port of Algiers were found alive Monday, but three more bodies were fished out of the sea, said the head of the shipping company Monday.
The 13 other crew members of the fishing boat Bechar, which sunk in a violent storm Saturday are still missing.
"All possible means are being used to find them, including the use of a Spanish helicopter," said Ali Koudil, CEO of the Algerian National Navigation Company (CNAN).
The Algerian coast guard and navy has launched a massive search and rescue mission.
The Bechar sunk near a pier marking the entrance to the port of Algiers, approximately one kilometer (half a mile) from shore.
The tops of the boat's masts are visible above the waves as 100 kilometer (60 mile) an hour winds still lash the bay.
Two other boats sank in Saturday's violent storm that brought 140 millimeters (five-and-a-half inches) of rain in 48 hours across several parts of northern, central and eastern Algeria.
While the entire crew of one boat driven ashore by the high seas was rescued, a sailor on a Turkish fishing boat was killed and another injured.
Another three people were killed and 10 were injured in the collapse of several houses in the storm, firemen told national radio.
11/15/2004 20:36 GMT - AFP