Mauritius searches for 15 missing after cyclone

PORT LOUIS, Mar 2 (Reuters) Mauritian rescuers are searching for 15 crew lost when their two fishing boats went missing in a cyclone, the owner of the boats said today.

Bahim Taher, director of Hassen Taher Seafoods, said he lost radio contact with two of his firm's boats a week ago as tropical cyclone Gamede hit northwestern Mauritius with gusts of up to 220 km/hour.

He said rough seas and bad weather had at first prevented the coastguard from starting a search for the 10 Mauritian and five Sri Lankan crew members.

''What we need is only to bring the fifteen fishermen back alive,'' Taher said. ''We still have hope. We pray to God.'' Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island located off the southeast coast of Africa, is prone to cyclones from November to mid-May, peaking in January and February.

REUTERS SP KP1435