10 missing after fishing boat capsizes off Indonesia

Rescue team members evacuate one of six survivors of a capsized passenger boat carrying 16 people in the Sunda strait near Anak Krakatau in Merak, Indonesia’s Banten province on June 20, 2020. – The boat was hit by strong waves and ten people are still missing. (Photo by RONALD SIAGIAN / AFP)

Ten people were missing after a boat carrying 16 fishermen capsized in Indonesian waters near the Anak Krakatau volcano, officials said Saturday.

Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said the motorboat sank on Thursday after being hit by strong waves in the Sunda strait.

“Six were rescued alive on Friday and we continue searching for the 10 people still missing today,” Indonesia’s search and rescue agency spokesman Muhammad Yusuf Latif told AFP on Saturday.

The group had attempted to swim to nearby Rakata island, he added.

“Six returned to the capsized boat and they were rescued. But the other 10 continued swimming and their whereabouts remain unknown,” Latif said.

Rescue teams expanded their search for survivors on Saturday.

Boat accidents are common in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands, due to lax safety standards.

In January, 10 people went missing after a boat carrying 20 migrant workers to neighbouring Malaysia capsized off the coast of Sumatra island.