Eight Cilacap fishermen drown

CILACAP, Central Java: Eight fishermen from Cilacap were missing after their motor boat Perintis II was destroyed by large waves off the southern coast on Monday, chairman of the fishermen's association Atas Munandar confirmed on Tuesday.

According to Atas, who is chief of the local search-and-rescue team, the ill-fated boat set sail from Cilacap port on Sunday evening. The boat, navigated by Sutanto, was equipped with a large net locally known as a jaring kantung.

The eight missing people are Sutanto, the navigator, Sartono, Marto, Tugirwan, Sukanto, Minggu, Pujo Suwarno and Slamet.

They were all over 40 years old except for Slamet, who was only 19.

Quoting other fishermen, Atas said that the boat was last seen at the Penanjungan area, some 11 kilometers (seven miles) off the Pangandaran beach. "The boat was torn apart and sank after large waves hit it," Atas quoted an eyewitness as saying.

"We've been working hard but we've found none of the missing people," he said. (45/sur)