Sri Lankans land in Bengkulu

BENGKULU, Bengkulu: Navy officials have been questioning four Sri Lankan fishermen who drifted ashore in Bengkulu on Saturday.

Chief of the local navy post command Lt. Col. Simon Silalahi told Antara news agency that his office would find out whether the fishermen had really drifted or intentionally entered Indonesia illegally.

"They claimed they entered Indonesia because their vessel was leaky," Silalahi said.

Silalahi, however, refused to give the identity of the aliens who landed on Baai Island without proper immigration documents.

"We will send them back through the Sri Lankan embassy in Jakarta," Nurdin Rusmin, head of local immigration office said. (01)