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3 reportedly died as a wooded boat capsized in E. Kalimantan
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A worker putting together a wooden fishermen's boat in Tahuna, the Sangihe Islands, North Sulawesi, April. 30. (Antara/Adwit B Pramono)
T
hree people have reportedly died and another four remain missing after a wooden boat carrying dozens of passengers capsized in the waters of Muara Selangot, Paser regency of East Kalimantan on Thursday afternoon.
The boat capsized 12.5 kilometers off of the Selangot shore, around 113 kilometers away from the province's capital city of Balikpapan, Mujiono, from the East Kalimantan National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), said on Thursday evening as reported by kompas.com.
Seventeen survivors are in Tanjung Harapan and 16 others are in Selangot. There is still no information about the identities of the three or four people that reportedly died, Mujiono said.
"Based on information from witnesses, there are still three to four people stuck in the boat. We will confirm that information," he said as quoted by kompas.com.
The passengers on board the boat were going to attend a wedding, Mujiono explained, adding that the passengers departed from Lori village in Paser to Tanjung Harapan. They rented KM Vega, a five-ton capacity wooden boat usually used by local fishermen.
The boat could only accommodate a maximum 20 passengers, Mujiono said. However, witnesses said there were around 30 to 40 people on board the boat, including children.
“We suspect that overloading reduced the boat’s flotation capability, and it was vulnerable when big waves hit," Mujiono said as quoted by kompas.com.
Before reaching its destination, the KM Vega capsized at around 5 p.m. local time.
Basarnas has deployed the KM Wisanggeni and experienced divers to search for those still unaccounted for. (rin)
