Iranian ship sinks in Persian Gulf, 5 killed

An Iranian ship carrying 72 people sank on Thursday afternoon in the Persian Gulf and five people were drowned, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. So far, the rescue teams have saved 60 passengers and the efforts are underway to save the others, Abdollah Naderi, the governor of Assaloyeh district told Fars. The ship left the offshore oil rigs in the Persian Gulf to Iran 's southern Assaloyeh port but for "unknown reasons" and "suddenly " sank 15 miles away from Assaloyeh in the sea, Naderi was quoted as saying. Located on the shore of the Persian Gulf some 270 km southeast of the provincial capital of Bushehr, Assaloyeh is best known as the site for one of the largest natural gas field in the world, the South Pars/North Dome Gas-Condensate field.