Rescuers involved in the search mission were dispatched to the accident site on SAR Vessel Antareja, head of the Kupang-based Search and Rescue (SAR) Office, Emi Frizer, told ANTARA in the provincial capital, on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, local rescue workers had found the body of a female passenger who was on board the ill-fated vessel when it capsized. The body was evacuated to the East Nusa Tenggara police hospital for a post-mortem examination, he said.
As of Wednesday, rescue workers had located 23 victims, four of whom were found dead."Now, five more still remain missing," Frizer said. In the absence of a manifest, the exact number of people on board the ship could not be ascertained, he added.
Indonesia remains vulnerable to sea accidents.
In June this year, a tugboat, Multi Sahabat 8, had capsized in the Batu Ampar waters, off Batam Island, Riau Islands Province. While four of the tugboat’s crew survived, its skipper went missing.
In another accident in West Sumatra Province, three fishermen went missing after their fishing boat sank near Gosong Gadang Island in Padang. (INE)
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Translator: Kornelis K, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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