Rescuers find 51 bodies of migrants after ship sank in Indonesia

Rescuers find 51 bodies of migrants after ship sank in Indonesia
Rescuers found 51 bodies of illegal migrants on Wednesday after their ship carrying about 250 migrants sank in waters off East Java of Indonesia on Saturday, as 48 of them have been rescued safely, rescuer said here. "Today (Wednesday) the rescuers have found more dead bodies, 21 of them are being carried out by an Indonesian war ship and 30 other bodies have been arrived onshore," said Gagah Prakoso, spokesman of National Search and Rescue Office Gagah Prakoso told Xinhua by phone.

The spokesman said that all the bodies were found still in the East Java territory. The finding on Wednesday had left about 151 feared dead.

Prakoso has said that all the economic migrants, many of them from the Middle East such as Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkey, had entered Indonesia illegally and aimed at Christmas island of Australia to seek asylum for a better life.

The searching of the victims had involved small planes, helicopters, Indonesian navy warships and sailor ships, said head of East Java Search and Rescue Office Sutrisnod.

Australian rescuers had also taken parts in the rescue operation along with hundreds of Indonesian rescuers, he told Xinhua over phone.

The rescue operation was to be conducted by the 7th day of the accident as it was in line with Indonesian law, nevertheless, the operation could be extended when the rescuers keep finding more victims.

The wooden ship sank at about 40 nautical miles from TPI Prigi beach of Trenggalek district of East Java at about 9 a.m. Jakarta time (0200 GMT) on Saturday. The ship was found by Indonesian sailors in East Java on Tuesday after it was hit by huge waves.

Indonesia has been a favorable transit points for illegal immigrants from the Middle East heading to Australia. But, they have frequently weathered sea accidents, as they took the journey with lacking of safety standard, and the huge waves in the ocean used to hit and collapse their small ship or boat, leaving dozens fatalities.

Indonesia has set up a cooperation with Australia to address the illegal immigrants.

Editor: Xiong Tong

English.news.cn   2011-12-21 16:32:45              
JAKARTA, Dec. 21 (Xinhua)