The channel said 36 survivors had been found inthe accident involving a "pirogue", or open fishing boat, and airedimages of mostly young survivors being brought ashore on Thursday.

The boat was travelling from Forecariah, about 50km tothe south, when it capsized late on Wednesday off the capital Conakry, a senior police officer said.

"When we were alerted we sent a rescue team to try torecover bodies. As of this morning, we had counted 57 bodies," he toldReuters.

The boat's passenger list was not immediately available.

Frequent accidents

It was not immediately clear who the passengers were. Manyliving in Guinea'scoastal communities use open boats for transportation due to poorly-maintainedroads.

Wednesday's incident comes just over a week after 65 peoplewere killed when a bridge collapsed under the weight of a truck packed withpassengers and goods as it travelled to a market in the country's remotesoutheast.

Similar accidents off the West African coast have occurredin recent years involving migrants fleeing poverty by trying to illegally reachSpain's Canary Islands tofind work in Europe, risking voyages of up to2,000 km.

About 6,000 people died en route to the Spanish archipelagolast year alone, according to Spanish officials.

Guineais the world's leading exporter of bauxite, used to make aluminium but despiteits mineral wealth, the country is mired in poverty with most of its nearly 10million people surviving on less than $1 a day.