Foul play in sea accident?

Foul play in sea accident?

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: An official here said on Tuesday that collusion might have led to an accident which killed at least 15 passengers on two overloaded boats.

The suspicion of collusion between the boat captains and harbor officials "may be true, and may be untrue," deduced Siahaan, the head of the sea transport section of the provincial office of the Ministry of Transport.

"It often happens here especially with the boats which serve isolated, small islands," Siahaan said.

On Dec. 11 the KM Bunga Coklat 01 and the KM Balibis 02 sunk at separate locations off Bone Strait in rough seas. Death reports vary between 10 and 23 people.

Five people are missing and Regent Adel Berty admitted the casualty count might be higher.

Harbor officials stated the total number of passengers could be 168, but Adel said the exact figure isn't available.

The Bunga Coklat, a cargo ship allowed to take a maximum of 50 passengers, was carrying at least 100 passengers when it sunk, Antara quoted Siahaan as saying yesterday. The Balibis was carrying on only 14 people according to the passenger list, but it was later established that 34 passengers were on board when the tragedy occurred.

"The additional passengers might have been allowed to board through the captain's generosity," said Siahaan. The illegal passengers might have also boarded the boats at a small port where no officers were on duty, he said. (anr)