T

he Indonesian Consulate General (KJRI) in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, is still identifying the bodies of 23 Indonesian migrant workers killed in a speed boat sinking, of which four have been identified and returned home on Friday.

The National Police liaison officer at the Johor Bahru KJRI, Adj. Sr. Comr. Wino Sumarno, said that as of Friday, 23 Indonesian bodies had been found in Pantai Kelise waters, Sungai Tengah, Bandar Penawar Kota Tinggi, Johor, since the first body was found on Tuesday.

Of the 23 bodies, 13 were men and the remaining 10 were women. Of them so far only four have been identified.

The speed boat was carrying 35 Indonesians when it hit rough waters and sank in Malaysian waters.

'€œA male body was returned home on Thursday. Today, three female bodies will be repatriated,'€ Wino told The Jakarta Post via text message on Friday.

He expressed hopes that all the bodies of the victims would be identified so that all could be sent home soon.

The bodies would be buried in Malaysia if they could not be identified within 30 days, he added, as required by local regulations.

Wino said most of the victims were from East Java, Central Java and Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara.

Their bodies are being returned to Indonesia by airplane from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta before being handed over to their respective families.

The three bodies sent home on Friday were identified as Murti of Surabaya, East Java, Siti Mayadi of Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara and Tasminah of Semarang, Central Java. The body sent back home on Thursday was identified as Agus Susanto of Central Java.

Meanwhile, the Riau Islands (Kepri) Police have set up a post at the Batam Center international ferry seaport just a day after an Indonesian body was found stranded at Pantai Tanjung Kelisa, Mukim Timur, Bandar Penawar, south of Johor, Malaysia, on Tuesday.

'€œKepri Police chief Brig. Gen. Sam Budigusdian promptly ordered the establishment of the post in case victims were found in Kepri waters,'€ Kepri Police'€™s spokesperson Adj. Sr, Comr. Hartono said.

He said 109 police personnel had been deployed for that purpose and that documentation and Health Ministry officers might be sent to Johor to help identify the victims.

Hartono said the Kepri Police were ready to help Malaysia if they were needed, especially as the victims were Indonesians. He also said that the post would operate until the handling of all the victims from the speed boat incident were declared finished.

The police had not began investigating how the speed boat was transporting suspected undocumented migrant workers from Batam to Johor bahru.

Thirty-five people were on a speed boat that only had a 15 passenger capacity. Before reaching its destination, 3.5-meter-high waves hit the fiberglass boat and destroyed it, killing all the passengers on board.

Batam has become a departure point for undocumented workers going to Malaysia.

In June, last year, 15 workers who were deported by the Malaysian government, arrived at the International Batam Center port. The workers, who were employed mostly as housemaids, came from various regions across Indonesia, including North Sumatra, Java and Nusa Tenggara.

Every year, the Malaysian government deports more than 100 undocumented workers via Batam.