Photo: Twitter @Bharian
HAVANA, March 21 (RHC) About 26 passengers who were reported missing when a fishing boat carrying foreign workers sank without permission off the coast of Indonesia were found alive this Monday after drifting for two days.
Two of the 86 passengers on the jobseeker boat in neighboring Malaysia died when it capsized on Saturday.
However, the captain and three crew members survived: “We found some passengers clinging tightly to buoys, drums with liquids and other floating objects to survive in the ocean, and some others were rescued by fishing boats,” the Navy spokesman said Belawan base on Sumatra island, Rully Ramadhiansya.
The wooden boat sank on the outskirts of North Sumatra province near the Tanjung Api coastal area while attempting to navigate an uncontrolled route.
According to survivors, it leaked shortly after leaving port before being hit by strong waves and eventually capsizing.
On Saturday itself, authorities said there were 89 people on the ship when it sank, but the captain put the total number on board at 90 people. (Source: Telesur)