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