Malaysian police shoot workers

PEKANBARU, Riau: Malaysian consul Zulkifli Yaacob confirmed reports yesterday that coast guards in Johor had opened fire Monday on a boat crammed with 28 Indonesian illegal migrant workers.

Reports said at least one of the workers was killed.

Yaacob said the coast guards fired in self-defense because the speeding boat had tried to ram the coast guards' patrol boat after it had been ordered to stop.

Antara reported that labor broker Sudadi from Jambi had been killed and his colleague Muhammad Nur injured. The latter was taken to hospital on Batam island.

The incident happened at dawn shortly after the boat had picked up the 28 homeward-bound workers in Johor. The boat was returning after smuggling 40 workers into Malaysia.

Malaysian coast guards had intercepted the boat and fired a warning shot in an attempt to stop it, Yaacob said. The boat had then turned and apparently intended to ram the patrol boat.

The coast guards had been traumatized by an incident last month in which a speeding boat carrying Indonesian illegal migrant workers had rammed an intercepting patrol boat, killing a police officer, Yaacob said. (pan)