Death toll in Indonesia boat accident rises to 51

Indonesia raised the death toll in a speedboat accident, near the Indonesian island of Batam, to 51 on Friday.


The boat, with 100 Indonesian migrants on board, had left Johor Bahru, the capital of the Malaysian state of Johor, early Wednesday for Batam but around two hours later ran into a severe storm and overturned.

Police spokesperson Erlangga told The Jakarta Post daily that the rescue team recovered another 30 bodies from the water.

The search operation will continue at least till Nov. 9 to locate the nine passengers that are still missing, the spokesperson added.

The police have launched an investigation to determine if the trip was legal and if the boat complied with safety standards.

Many people die every year in Indonesia, a country with more than 17,000 islands, in shipwrecks caused by storms, precarious infrastructure, and failure to comply with safety measures, particularly overloading of passengers and goods.
 EFE- EPA
4/11/16
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