2 killed in S. Africa tour boat capsizing

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HOUT BAY, South Africa, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Two people were killed when a whale-watching boat capsized in rough seas on the coast of South Africa, rescuers said.

Another 36 people were saved from the overturned vessel in the waters near Cape Town, including two women who spent several hours trapped in an air pocket inside the vessel Saturday, rescue officials in Hout Bay told Britain's The Telegraph.

"The police divers then had to coach the two females and encourage them to take off their life-jackets which were making them too buoyant to be successfully swum out from under the upturned boat to be freed," said Brad Geyser of the National Sea Rescue Institute.

The other passengers and crew, including several French and British tourists, were rescued quickly. The two fatalities included a South African crewman and a British national who lived in Cape Town, The Telegraph said.