Jakarta, July 31 (Antara) - At least 34 people have died in sea
accidents or drowned at beaches in the past three days of the
post-fasting Idul Fitri or Lebaran festivities across the country.
In a major incident, 17 Lebaran revelers died when a ferry sank in the
Kapuas River in Central Kalimantan while 7 others were killed in a boat
accident in West Sumatra. In Papua and Central Sulawesi provinces, boat
accidents also led to 4 deaths.
As of Thursday, some 51 others were still missing as a result of sea accidents.
Reports revealed that in West Sumatra, at least six people drowned
while swimming in beaches, and several others are still missing.
"In the past three days, six people have drowned at various beaches in
West Sumatra, such as the Artha and Padang beaches," Juanda Sogo, the
chief of the operation section of the National Search and Rescue Agency
(Basarnas) for Padang office, West Sumatra, stated in Padang on
Thursday.
Sogo remarked that it was suspected that the victims had drowned as
they were not able to swim the high waves at the beaches.
"As the waves were relatively big, they were dragged from the beach lines," Juanda Sogo added.
Besides that, the Bernas also recorded that three victims were saved after they were swept away by waves.
In Central Kalimantan, an overloaded ferry sank on Tuesday in the
Kapuas River, in the village of Panamas of Salat
sub-district. According to records, 60 people were on board the boat.
"However,
it is believed that the actual number was around 70. A mechanic, crew
member, and the ship owner have been taken into custody for further
investigation," noted National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB)
spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
Nugroho
remarked on Wednesday that 15 have been found dead while three others
are still unaccounted for after the accident.
However,
according to Siter, an official from local Soemarno Sosroatmodjo
hospital, two other bodies were found on Thursday so that the death toll
rose to 17.
"A total number of 52 people have been saved.
Seventy people were believed to be aboard the ferry. Five of them are
now still being treated at the Kapuas hospital," Nugroho reported.
Nugroho
explained that 19 motorcycles had been evacuated, and it was believed
that the ferry was carrying 20 to 40 motorcycles.
"Tomorrow morning, a joint search and rescue team with personnel
belonging to Basarnas, the police, the TNI (military), other related
agencies, volunteers, and community members will continue tracking down
the victims," he stated.
In the meantime, a boat with 48 passengers on board capsized in Sei
Berombang waters, Panai Hilir Sub-district, Labuhanbatu District, North
Sumatra Province, on Wednesday evening, killing seven and rendering 13
others missing.
"The accident occurred at around half past ten in the evening,"
Hafifuddin of the Panai Hilir sub-district administration remarked here
on Thursday.
There were 28 survivors in the accident. Of the seven fatalities, six
were children. The ill-fated boat departed from Tanjung Leidong, North
Labuhanbatu (Labura), and was on its way to Sei Berombang and Labuhan
Bilik, Panai Hilir Sub-district. The cause of the accident is not yet
known.
In a similar boat accident that took place in Papua Province, two
people died and two others are still missing in the sub-district of
Yaur, Nabire District.
A speed boat with 8 people from Yaur that was on its way to the city of
Nabire capsized on Saturday, stated Agustinus N. Karubuy, the secretary
of the Yaur district administration.
The passengers, mostly Muslims, wanted to visit their relatives in Nabire to celebrate Idul Fitri, Agustinus added.
During the search operations conducted since Sunday, 6 of the passengers including two dead victims were found.
The other two missing passengers were both female nurses of a health
center in Yaur, and the search for them is still going on, he noted.
"The bodies of the dead victims had been evacuated to Nabire," Agustinus reported.
The search and rescue (SAR) team continued to look for the two missing
passengers of a boat that capsized in the Nabire waters. The search
efforts were being carried out using a helicopter and two speed boats
around Wami, Sima, and Kwatisore waters as well as the isles of Nuburi,
Papaya, Nene and Yaur, Lt. Col. Yohannes Purba, the commander of the
Nabire military district, stated on Thursday.
The two missing passengers were identified as Selvi and Linda, who were
both civil servants in the Yamoor administration sub-district, Kaimana
District, West Papua.
In
a "banana boat" game accident, two people were killed and five others
were injured at the beach resort of Tangjung Karang Donggala, Central
Sulawesi, 35 kilometers north of Palu, on Tuesday afternoon.
According to an eyewitness Yusak Lamarua, the accident took place when a
speed boat crashed into the banana boat drawn by another speed boat,
throwing all seven people on board in the sea.
Two of the seven people were killed on the spot, and the other five
fell unconscious and were rushed to a hospital in Donggala, Yusak
stated.
Yusak noted that the incident took place in front of a
crowd of visitors who were at the resort beach to spend their Idul Fitri
holidays.
The victims were all from Pasar Masomba in the city of Palu, he
remarked, adding that the accident was due to human error as the weather
was conducive and the sea was calm.
In
Sukabumi, West Java, the rescue agency saved four people from drowning
at the beaches in Ujung Genteng and Pelabuhan Ratu.
"On the third day after the Idul Fitri holiday, the flow of tourists is
significantly increasing. According to the coastal rescue information,
incidents of four people being saved from drowning were reported in
Ujung Genteng in Ciracap sub-district to Cibangban Beach in Cisolok
sub-district," the rescue agency's spokesperson Dede Sumarna stated.
The
rescued tourists were an 11-year-old boy, Rehan, and 18-year-old Ali
from Bandung who were reportedly saved in Istiqomah Beach, Pelabuhan
Ratu, while Erif and Wanda were rescued from Minajaya Beach, Ujung
Genteng.
Dede noted that the agency and its personnel are constantly monitoring
the tourists on the beach and reminding them to stay onshore through
public announcements.
Besides this, the agency has also installed safety signs to notify the tourists of safe areas for swimming.
To
monitor the high influx of visitors on the beach, the agency has
deployed at least 80 of its members on standby along the coastline, and
eight are on standby in posts in the coastal area of West Java that
spans more than 150 kilometers wide, Dede emphasized.
Another victim however went missing in the South Sukabumi Sea on
Thursday. This time the victim was 10-year-old M. Aprizal who was
suspected to have drowned at the Citepus Beach, Pelabuhan Ratu District.
"We are still searching for the ill-fated boy," Dede reported on Thursday.
The boy was on the verge of drowning when his father, Nanang, tried to
save him but failed due to swift currents and high waves and was also
about to drown in the process. Luckily, the rescue workers were able to
save him.
The father of the boy was in a critical condition and was rushed to the
Palabuhanratu Public Hospital for medical treatment, Dede added.
***3***
(T.A014/INE/a014)
EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 31-07-2014 19:07 |
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