Four dead as Indian ship sinks off Oman

Four crewmen died and five are still missing after an Indian ship sank in bad weather off the coast of Oman, state media in the Gulf sultanate reported on Sunday. The Omani coastguard rescued six sailors and recovered four bodies after the sinking around 12 kilometres (eight miles) off the town of Sadh in the southern Dhofar region, the reports said. Torrential rains this week sparked flashflooding in Dhofar that killed 12 people, authorities in the region said. Although Dhofar lies just south of the Arabian Peninsula's notorious Empty Quarter, one of the most arid parts of the world, its mountains are exposed to the southeast monsoon between June and September and can have large rainfall in other months as well.