One drowned after ritual

YOGYAKARTA: A woman drowned and two of her friends went missing after they were overcome by a huge wave during an outing at the Parangtritis beach near here, Antara reported.

Soepardjan, an official of the local Search and Rescue agency, said a group of six people were out bathing and performing some "strange" rituals on the beach on Wednesday night when the incident happened.

The SAR team discovered the body of the woman, identified as 30-year old Cristina Sugiarti, nearby. The search for the two missing men, Ari Cahyo and Ari Prasetyo, both 21, is still being conducted.

The three other people at the outing were late in alerting the authorities because they thought the trio had gone to a quiet spot for meditation and did not wish to be disturbed, Soepardjan said.

The six came from Sukoharjo near Surakarta, Central Java. (emb)