The World - News from Aug. 21, 1989

A passenger ferry crossing the Gulf of California caught fire 26 miles from port and began sinking, but all 355 people on board were rescued, officials said. The engine of the vessel, the Mazatlan, overheated and exploded as it was on a 130-mile crossing from La Paz in Baja California Sur to Topolobampo on the Mexican mainland, according to the director of the national ferry service. The 299 passengers and 56 crew members escaped aboard life rafts and were picked up by another passenger vessel. Firefighters from the Mexican navy and government petroleum company tried to put out the blaze, but officials said it appeared the ferry would sink with 33 vehicles and the luggage of the passengers on board.