Hanoi (VNA) –At least 13 peopledied after a passenger boat capsized off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, onlytwo days after a similar accident in the archipelago killed at least nine on New Year’sDay, police said on January 5.
The boat was carrying 55 people alongthe Musi river when it was hit by a large wave and sank amid bad weather onJanuary 3, South Sumatra water police chief Robinson Siregar said.
He said the police were still searchingfor the captain. Meanwhile, his assistant has been detained for questioning tofind out whether or not the boat was seaworthy or there was negligence by thecrew.
It was the latest deadly maritime accident in the Indonesianarchipelago, which relies heavily on boats to ferry people around its 17,000 islands.
On New Year's Day, at least nine people died after a passenger boat capsizedwhen traveling from the city of Tarakan to Tanjung Selor on Borneo island.-VNA