At least 57 people are believed to have died when a leisure boat sank off the coast of Bahrain last night.

British nationals are among the victims, Embassy officials confirmed today. The vessel, believed to have been carrying 150 passengers, among them about 25 Britons, overturned less than a mile off the coast .

An official from the British Embassy in Bahrain said: "We are aware that some British nationals have died as a result of the accident."

The boat, a traditional wooden dhow, was on a routine dinner cruise that was due to last three hours when it overturned less than a mile off the coast in the warm, shallow waters at about 9.30pm local time. Those on board were a mixture of Bahrainis, other Gulf nationals and Westerners.

Sheikh Rashid bin Abdulla al-Khalifa, the Bahraini Interior Minister, said that 52 people had been rescued. The minister, who is in charge of security, said that most of the boat’s passengers were employees of a Bahrain-based company and that they came from several countries.

"There are 52 survivors and there are also 44 dead (bodies) that were retrieved," Sheikh al-Khalifa said. "So far, the operations continue. God willing, there will be more survivors rescued," he said in a telephone interview aired on Bahraini television.

But Youssef al-Katem, the chief of the coastguard, later revised the figures, saying that 48 bodies had been recovered and 63 people had survived.

"They are still bringing in people who have come out of the water and are walking in to be checked," a British official said, speaking from the Salmaniya, the main public hospital in Manama.

A group of 11 survivors taken to the hospital included nationals of India, South Africa, Singapore and at least one Briton. All were said to be in a stable condition.

Several thousand Britons are resident in Bahrain.

Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar, the Bahraini Information Minister, estimated that 25 Britons, 20 Filipinos, 10 Egyptian, 10 South Africans and a number of Bahrainis were on board the boat.

Many passengers were plucked from the water as a large and complex rescue operation swung promptly into action. American divers and helicopters from the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which is based there, joined local coastguard boats and other private vessels at the scene.

"The first report we received was that a dhow had capsized," a US Navy spokesman said. "We are preparing a helicopter to join the rescue."

Two helicopters could be seen from the shore flying low over the site of the sunken vessel. Rescue teams on small boats could also be seen using flashlights to help them to search for survivors in the dark.

Rescue teams brought to shore bodies covered with white sheets. Hospital workers took them away to waiting ambulances. Scores of officials and relatives waited on the dock watching rescue boats bring more bodies and survivors.

It was not immediately clear why the vessel capsized, though there were unconfirmed reports that it might have been overloaded. The sea was calm and a coastguard official said that the pleasure craft had not issued any call for help when the accident occurred in northern Bahrain, near the island of Muharraq.

"There must have been technical reasons that caused the accident, Sheikh al-Khalifa said. "We met some of the survivors and they spoke about their surprise that the boat capsized."

The US Navy was investigating the possibility that the boat might have been attacked. Bahrain, like other Gulf states, faces the threat of terrorism. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office website advises travellers to "be aware of the threat from terrorism", adding that "attacks could be indiscriminate, and against Western and British interests."

But a Bahraini official said: "There is no indication that this was an attack." A British official said last night: "We are not aware that it hit anything."

DISASTERS AT SEA Last month al-Salam Boccaccio 98 sank in the Red Sea en route from Duba, on the Saudi coast, to Egypt, killing 1,000

In 2002 MV Joola capsized off the coast of Gambia, killing at least 1,863 people

In 1994 MS Estonia, sailing to Stockholm from Tallinn, sank in the Baltic; 852 died

More than 190 died when the Herald of Free Enterprise sank off Zeebrugge in 1987

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Afghanistan News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• It’s only Brits who don’t appreciate me, says Blair
• Party’s over for Greek graspers
• White House tightens security for Xmas marathon