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)