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10 missing after boat carrying illegal workers sinks in Malacca Strait
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Illustration of a sinking boat. (Shutterstock/File)
A
wooden motorboat carrying 20 undocumented workers has sunk in the Malacca Strait en route to Malaysia. Ten of the workers remain missing.
The boat departed from Rupat Island of Bengkalis regency in Riau on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m., carrying 20 illegal workers, according to initial information received by the Pekanbaru Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas Pekanbaru) and Tanjung Medang Water and Air Police (Polaruid).
"Polaruid has confirmed that 10 of the passengers are safe, while the remaining 10 are still missing," Basarnas Pekanbaru chief Ishak told reporters on Thursday, adding that the boat allegedly sunk due to a leak in its hull.
The rescued victims were identified as Een Saputra, 30, from Aceh; Mariska Sari, 30, from Central Java; Abdullah Faiz, 25, Doni Siregar, 25, Rudiansah, 25, Uli Handayani, 39, Fitria, 40, and Herman, 29, all from North Sumatra; Abib, 28, from Jambi; and Sumon, 32, a Bangladeshi citizen.
Ishak said Basarnas had coordinated with Polairud, the Indonesian Navy and port authorities to search for the missing victims, deploying a KN 218 ship, a rigid inflatable boat and a Puma helicopter that departed from the Roesmin Nurjadin Air Force base in Pekanbaru.
He added that officers had also been on stand-by in the waters of Dumai, Riau, while four officers departed to the location of the incident on Wednesday evening.
There have been no reports on whether other foreign citizens were among the missing victims. (ars)
