CHANNEL FERRY REPORTED SINKING OFF BELGIUM

  The channel ferry Herald
  of Free Enterprise from the British Townsend Thorensen company
  was sinking off the Belgian coast tonight with 463 people on
  board, the Dutch newsagency ANP reported today.
      An unspecified number of people had fallen into the water,
  it said, quoting the pilot organisation in this south-western
  Dutch port city near the Belgian border.
      It said the vessel had capsized after a collision but gave
  no more details.
      Dan Kaakebeen a spokesman for the Dutch salvage firm Smit
  International told Reuters by telephone from Rotterdam that the
  vessel was just off the Belgian port of Zeebrugge with 463
  passengers and crew when the accident occurred at 1850 GMT.
      Kaakebeen said the firm had one vessel at the scene and
  another on its way with divers on board.
      A spokesman at the port authority of nearby Vlissingen said
  attempts were being made to pull the vessel into shallow
  waters.
      Weather conditions were good with no fog or wind, and there
  were many other vessels in the area.
  

