Boat Sinking Kills 16 in Albania

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A boat carrying partygoers celebrating the birthday of 5-year-old twins sank overnight in a lake near the capital, killing 16 people, including the two children, police said Thursday.

The boat belonged to a restaurant on the shores of Lake Farka, about three miles east of the capital, Tirana. It had a capacity of seven, but was transporting 20 people from the restaurant when it sank shortly after midnight, Tirana police spokeswoman Alma Katragjini said.
Authorities believe the boat capsized because it was overloaded.

Four people survived, Katragjini said. Three hours after the sinking, authorities had collected 16 bodies from the lake: seven men, seven women and the 5-year-old twin boys, she said.
Fourteen of the dead belonged to two families, while two of the bodies could not immediately be identified, but were believed to be those of family friends, Katragjini said.
Outside the Tirana morgue, men wept and held each other as relatives and friends gathered to claim the bodies.

Lakeside and seaside restaurants are popular in Albania, but most are within easy reach of roads. The one on Lake Farka was more remote, and a small boat was often used to ferry passengers to it.