Vessel sinks in Maluku, 27 missing

AMBON, Maluku: A boat believed to be an inter-island ferry sank in the seas off Indonesia's riot-torn Maluku islands, leaving 27 people missing, Antara said Tuesday.

The not-yet unidentified boat sank about three hours after it left around 8 a.m. from the coastal town of Werinema on Seram island bound for Banda island on Monday, Maluku Civil Emergency information official Maj. Marthen Luther Djari said.

Four of the 31 people on board managed to reach Werinema on a canoe and reported the sinking, it added. The whereabouts of the 27 other people remained unknown.

Port authorities in the main Maluku city of Ambon said they had no report of the incident but will soon coordinate the matter with the existing security forces.

The National Search and Rescue Agency (SAR) headquarters in Jakarta, however, also said that it had yet to receive a report of the incident.(edt)