Fri, 02:09 14 Nov 2008 GMT17

 

Six Indonesians die as boat sinks off Malaysia
30 Sep 2008 04:13:22 GMT
Source: Reuters
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 (Reuters) - At least six Indonesians returning home to celebrate the Eid al-fitr holidays were killed after a boat carrying 130 people capsized off the coast of Malaysia early on Tuesday, the marine police and coastguard said.

A Malaysian coastguard official said rescuers pulled out 107 survivors but said the death toll could be higher.

"At this point we are still undertaking search and rescue operations. The boat sank near Port Klang and eyewitnesses have said that there were quite a few bodies," said a coastguard spokesman, referring to Malaysia's busiest port.

Marine police commandant Marzuki Ismail in central Selangor state was quoted by the online edition of the Star newspaper as saying the boat could have capsized because it was overcrowded with illegal workers.

Every year, thousands of illegal immigrants from Indonesia cross the busy Malacca Strait to return home to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Seeking to avoid Malaysia's coastguard, they often set off from beaches and mangrove creeks along Malaysia's west coast in rickety wooden boats. (Reporting by Niluksi Koswanage; Editing by David Fogarty)
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Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, accompanied by Germany's Parliamentary State Secretary Thomas Rachel (2nd R), examines a model of a new high-tech tsunami warning system at the meteorology and geophysics bureau ...



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