Ghana police arrest Chinese crew

Accra, 16 June-(ANA)-Police in Ghana have impounded a Chinese ship and arrested three crew members after three Ivorians are alleged to have been thrown overboard.

One of the stowaways is believed to have drowned; the other two survived.

Djiba Kamara, 18, was rescued by a navy patrol on Sunday after he said he had been treading water for seven hours.

Stowaways are protected under the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and are the responsibility of a ship's crew if found.

Mr Kamara told Ghana's state-owned Daily Graphic paper the three stowaways were thrown into the sea on Saturday night after being discovered in the crane of the MV Rui Ning 3.

One of his companions, Omari Ceesay, 33, was found unconscious but survived and is said to be in a stable condition at a naval hospital in the Ghanaian port city of Takoradi.

Mr Kamara said the third man, Kondah Aziz, could not swim. (ANA)

FA/ANA/16 June 2010-------