Boat Sinks in Indonesia: 10 dead, 5 missing
Ten people have drowned while five are still missing after a wooden boat carrying 17 people capsized in the province of Riau Islands on Sunday morning, reports the Jakarta Post.
The boat capsized in rough seas and sank off Indonesia's Bintan island, south of Singapore.
The boat carried 17 persons and overturned after it departed from a port in Tanjung Pinang of Riau province, Xinhua quoted navy spokesman Admiral Edi Sucipto as saying.
Bad weather was blamed for the disaster, he said. Navy command in western Indonesia undertook the evacuation just after the incident, Sucipto said.
About 20 ships and 50 fishing boats have been deployed in the search. The effort was being hampered by high waves and strong currents, said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
Two people were rescued. Two children were among the 10 people who died. The boat was close to its destination when it sank. Nugroho said some of the passengers tried to swim but were overcome by 3-meter (10-foot) waves.
Boat sinkings are common in Indonesia, an archipelago of some 17,000 islands. Ferries are often overcrowded and poorly regulated.