Eleven passengers of missing ferry found

Eleven passengers of missing ferry found

JAKARTA (JP): The first 11 from hundreds of passengers of the
missing Cahaya Bahari ferry were found stranded on a remote
island in North Sulawesi on Sunday morning, a rescue official
said.

Head of the National Search and Rescue Agency Setyo Rahardjo
said a passenger ship Minahasa IX picked up 11 people adrift on
the water off Lirung island, around 73 miles from the regency of
Sangihe and Talaud islands.

Setyo said 10 of the passengers were alive, while the other
one died after floating in the water for three nights and four
days.

The survivors, four of them are women, were admitted to
Kelirung Hospital for medical treatment due to dehydration,
sunburn and hunger.

Navy ships sent to locate the ferry have been unable to spot
any more survivors or lifeboats, but the search will continue,
Setyo said.

Along with Director General of Sea Transportation Tjuk
Suhardiman, Setyo visited the survivors and joined the search for
almost six hours to locate more victims, but to no avail. The
search in the day ended at 10 p.m. local time.

The passengers found on Sunday were wearing life jackets and
holding on to debris when they were picked up.

"Survivors told the rescue team that their ship sank after
taking on a violent storm in high speed. Now at least we know
what happened to the ship," Setyo said.

Soleman, head of the North Sulawesi Search and Rescue team
said the passenger vessel located nine victims at around 9 a.m.
Central Indonesia Time (WITA) and two more survivors at around
10:45 a.m.

"They were picked up more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from
the point where contact with the Cahaya Bahari was lost, which
was about 42 miles east of Siau island."

Radio contact with the wooden-hulled vessel ended after its
captain, M.M. Paparaga, radioed an "SOS" advising that the ship
was taking water rapidly at around 10:45 a.m. local time on
Thursday.

The National Search and Rescue Agency claimed that nearly 500
passengers and crew may have been aboard.

The ship, bound for North Sulawesi's capital Manado, is
believed to have been carrying people fleeing the communal
conflict in Tobelo on Halmahera island in North Maluku.

The predominantly Christian Tobelo regency was hit by the
worst violence ever since sectarian riots reerupted in North
Maluku in May. Hundreds of people have died in the clashes.

Scores of tearful relatives were shocked after hearing the
news at Manado airport. In Ambon, the capital of Maluku, Yerda
Jawa of Masehi Injil Protestant Maluku Church expressed hope that
there will be more survivors discovered.

Pope John Paul II, expressing sorrow for the sinking of the
ship packed with Christian refugees, prayed for peace on Sunday
for the Maluku islands, AP reported.

"I learn with great pain at this moment the news of the
sinking of the boat with some 500 people aboard", the Pope told
pilgrims in St. Peter's Square.

"I express great sorrow for the victims, while I pray that the
Lord grant them their eternal reward and I invoke with all my
force peace and security for those islands tormented by
violence," the pontiff added.

Similar expressions of grief and condolence to the Indonesian
government and the victims' families were also conveyed by U.N.
secretary-general Kofi Annan, Antara reported. (49/edt)