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Malaysia Searches for Dozens of Missing People After Boat Sinks Malaysia Searches for Dozens of Missing People After Boat Sinks
(about 4 hours later)
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Malaysian search-and-rescue teams on Wednesday were looking for survivors from an overloaded passenger ship, believed to have been bringing 97 Indonesians back to their home country, that sank overnight in bad weather shortly after setting sail, an official said. JAKARTA, Indonesia — An overloaded wooden passenger ship carrying 97 Indonesians back to their home country sank off the west coast of Malaysia early Wednesday, killing five people, and search-and-rescue teams were working into the night looking for 32 others who remained missing, Malaysian officials said.
Search teams had rescued 61 people from the vessel and recovered two bodies as of Wednesday afternoon, but 34 others remained missing, Lt. Raimi Nor, an investigations officer with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, said by telephone. News reports later quoted a different official as saying that 35 people were missing. By evening, a total of 60 passengers had been rescued and five bodies recovered, an official with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said by telephone. The official, who declined to give his name, said the vessel began taking on water shortly after setting sail on a river in the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve in the southwestern state of Selangor. It is believed to have drifted into the Strait of Malacca before sinking around 300 meters, or about 1,000 feet, off the coast.
Lieutenant Raimi said the ship had illegally set sail around midnight Tuesday from the Kuala Langat district of Selangor State, in the southwestern corner of Peninsular Malaysia, and sunk in a river in the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve before even reaching the Strait of Malacca. The agency received a distress call at 12:45 a.m. Wednesday, he said. “We will proceed until we find all the victims, but after sunset we will minimize our assets in the search” because of darkness, the official said.
“Last night, the weather was rough, and the boat was in bad condition,” Lieutenant Raimi said. “They were overloaded, and they sank in the river. They didn’t have a manifest list, so we don’t know how many are passengers and how many are the crew.” Lt. Raimi Nor, an investigations officer with the maritime enforcement agency, said earlier Wednesday that the ship had illegally set sail around midnight Tuesday from Selangor’s Kuala Langat district. The agency received a distress call at 12:45 a.m. Wednesday, he said.
Other news reports said that the boat had entered the Strait of Malacca before sinking. “Last night, the weather was rough, and the boat was in bad condition,” Lieutenant Raimi said. “They were overloaded.”
“They didn’t have a manifest list,” he added, “so we don’t know how many are passengers and how many are the crew.”
Lieutenant Raimi said that the Malaysian authorities believed the ship was based in Indonesia and that the passengers were illegal migrant workers traveling home. He said the authorities did not know their destination in Indonesia.Lieutenant Raimi said that the Malaysian authorities believed the ship was based in Indonesia and that the passengers were illegal migrant workers traveling home. He said the authorities did not know their destination in Indonesia.
“That is still under investigation, but we believe most of them are migrant workers,” he said. “The information we do have is that they were all Indonesians, and the boat was an Indonesian boat.”“That is still under investigation, but we believe most of them are migrant workers,” he said. “The information we do have is that they were all Indonesians, and the boat was an Indonesian boat.”
Malaysia, a relatively wealthy Southeast Asian country, is a destination point for migrant workers from around the region.Malaysia, a relatively wealthy Southeast Asian country, is a destination point for migrant workers from around the region.