All missing found after Indonesia boat capsize
PADANG, Indonesia: All of the 11 people reported missing after a boat capsized off western Indonesia were rescued Tuesday, authorities said, with some surviving by clinging to pieces of the boat. The vessel carrying 18 people capsized around 11 am Monday as it sailed around the Mentawai islands off the coast of western Sumatra, the Mentawai search and rescue agency said.
'We successfully evacuated all 18 victims,' Mentawai search rescue agency head Rudi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said in a statement. Some of those rescued were wearing life jackets and some had clung to pieces of the overturned boat, Rudi told reporters earlier Tuesday.
Big waves hit the boat before it capsized, Rudi added, citing testimony from one of the boat operators.
'From what we heard from the operator, it (the boat) was struck from the side and then flipped over,' he said. One of those rescued was receiving treatment at a local clinic but was in good health, he said.
Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in the Southeast Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards or bad weather. On July 3, a ferry sank off the popular resort island of Bali, killing at least 18 people. In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, killing an Australian woman and injuring at least one other person. In 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world's deepest lakes on Sumatra island. – AFP
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