The chief of the Aceh search and rescue agency, Budiawan, when asked to confirm the report said that the evacuation was carried out at around 9am.
"On Sunday morning, a SAR team evacuated 150 foreigners reported to be stranded in the Malacca Strait waters in North Aceh," he said.
He said the evacuation was carried out following a report from the SAR post in Langsa. The SAR post in Langsa received information about a wooden boat calling for help in North Aceh waters.
Following the report a SAR team then departed to the location where the boat was and they found more than one hundred foreigners there.
"The evacuation was carried out in two batches with the first consisting of 80 and the second 70 people due to a limited capacity of the rescue boat." he said.
The people were then checked with regard to their health condition and immigration matters.
"We only evacuated them. The 150 foreigners were then referred to the immigration office for a further process," he said.
reporting by m haris sa
(H-YH)
(T.SYS/B/H-YH/B/H-YH)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
