Five drown as boat capsizes

Five drown as boat capsizes

JAMBI, Jambi: Five people drowned on Tuesday after a speed
boat capsized in waters off Tanjung Jabung, about 125 kilometers
from Jambi city, police said.

Five others in the boat survived.

"A speed boat traveling from Pangalihan village in East Tanjab
to Kuala Tangkal in West Tanjab sank after hitting a large
submerged log," West Tanjab Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Syauqie
Achmad said on Wednesday.

Syauqie said the victims of Tuesday's accident included the
captain of the passenger boat.

The victims were Hapek, 60, Hadisah, 60, Pamulek, 45, Hadizah,
7, and Buli, 35, the captain.

The victims and the five survivors were found by local
fishermen who passed near the scene about seven hours after the
accident, he said.

The five bodies were brought to Kuala Tangkal General Hospital
for an autopsy before being taken by their families for burial.

Police blamed the fatalities on the owners of the boat who
failed to equip it with safety equipment, including life belts,
radios and emergency flares.

Most passenger boats plying remote areas across Jambi did not
provide safety equipment, causing many deaths in accidents,
police said. -- Antara