Four die, 21 missing in boat collision

Four die, 21 missing in boat collision

PALANGKARAYA, C. Kalimantan: Four people died and 21 others
are missing after their ship collided with a tugboat on the
Barito River Sunday at 7 a.m., Antara reported.

Two of the four victims were children, while none of the
missing people have been found yet, the news agency quoted
Muskeri, the spokesman for the local river transportation office,
as saying yesterday.

He said the accident took place about two hours by speedboat
from Kuala Kapuas district, a resettlement area where the 62
passengers aboard the ship resided.

The authorities have yet to establish the identities of the
missing people, he said.

Visibility in the province, especially on the Barito river,
was only three to five meters due to the forest fires that
continue to rage in Kalimantan.

The passengers were transmigrants on their way to a
traditional market in Kabuau village, Kuripan subdistrict when
the accident occurred.

The provincial government has reportedly sent a team to
investigate the cause of the accident.

"We can't comment on the accident, whether they violated the
regulations such as maximum capacity or whether the ship was
equipped to sail during the smog," said Wahab, a team official.

Sunday's collision was the fourth in Kapuas in the last three
months, bringing the death toll to 23 people. (swe)