Search for missing passengers called off

Search for missing passengers called off

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: The search for four people
reportedly missing after their fishing boat sank in Tiworo Strait
last Friday was called off Tuesday.

Roki Asikin, head of the Kendari Search and Rescue agency,
said his team stopped the search, as no missing persons had been
reported by family members and because the actual number of
passengers remained unclear.

Local residents of Napabalano District in Muna Regency helped
in the effort to recover the victims' bodies. So far, the bodies
of Syarif, 40, and Mahmud, 19, have been recovered.

Twenty-five people chartered the fishing boat because they
missed the ferry, which regularly serves the route from Torobulu
to Tampo. Large waves in Tiworo Strait overturned and sunk the
boat. Twenty people were reported to have survived.

Police have detained Kharim, the skipper of the fishing boat,
in connection with the incident. --Antara