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