Yahoo – AFP,
Andy Amaldan, 17 Aug 2014
Bima (Indonesia) (AFP) - Ten foreign tourists and five Indonesians were missing Sunday after a boat sank as it travelled between islands in the east of the country, while 10 others have been rescued, search and rescue officials said.
Survivors
rescued after a tourist boat sank rest at a house near to the
Indonesian town
of Bima on August 17, 2014 (AFP Photo/Andy Amaldan)
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Bima (Indonesia) (AFP) - Ten foreign tourists and five Indonesians were missing Sunday after a boat sank as it travelled between islands in the east of the country, while 10 others have been rescued, search and rescue officials said.
The vessel
went down Saturday after being caught up in a storm en route from Lombok island
to Komodo island, the home of the Komodo dragon -- the world's biggest lizard
and a draw for tourists.
Those
rescued were from New Zealand, Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and
France, said search and rescue official Budiawan, who like many Indonesians
goes by one name. They had all received medical treatment, officials said.
The
nationalities of the foreigners still missing was not immediately clear. The
missing Indonesians were four boat crew members and a tour guide.
Bertrand
Homassel, a French survivor, said the boat started sinking slowly after its
hull was damaged in a storm on Friday night, and he and several others had to
swim a long distance to a volcanic island to save themselves.
"Six
people were in the lifeboat. The others climbed onto the roof of the boat,
which had not completely sunk," he said, speaking from a hotel in Bima on
Sumbawa island, where the survivors were taken after being rescued.
"We
waited until midday on Saturday. We were five kilometres (three miles) from the
coast -- there were many big waves separating us from the coast.
"People
started to panic... Everyone took the decision to swim to the closest island,
five kilometres away, where there was an erupting volcano."
He said
that they swam for six hours and arrived on the island, Sangeang, as the sun
was setting. They spent Saturday night there, surviving by drinking their own
urine and eating leaves.
On Sunday,
they attracted the attention of a passing boat by waving their life jackets,
and were rescued and taken to Bima, he said.
"I was
really very lucky," Homassel added.
Budiawan,
the search and rescue official, said that 10 foreigners and five Indonesians
were still missing after the boat sank, and efforts were ongoing to find them.
Suryaman, a
search and rescue official in Bima, said five of the tourists were rescued by
fishermen at night, and five others were saved by a sailing boat.
Fishing
boats anchor at Waibalun bay in East Flores, East Nusa Tenggara
on May 21, 2013
(AFP Photo/Sonny Tumbelaka)
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The British
embassy said two British nationals had been admitted to hospital.
"We
are in contact with the local authorities and stand ready to offer consular
assistance to any other British nationals who may be involved," a
spokesman said.
Komodo
island is one of several islands that make up the Komodo National Park, a
protected area that is home to the Komodo dragon. The huge lizards can grow up
to three metres (10 feet) long and have a venomous bite.
Indonesia
relies heavily on boats to connect its more than 17,000 islands, but has a poor
maritime safety record.
Two vessels
sank last month in different parts of the archipelago as millions travelled for
the Muslim Eid holiday, leaving at least 36 people dead.
Fatal boat
sinkings involving asylum-seeker vessels trying to make the treacherous sea
crossing from Indonesia to Australia are also common.
But boat
sinkings involving foreign tourists are rare, with accidents in Indonesia's
booming aviation sector more of a danger for overseas visitors in recent years.
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Foreign
survivors receive medical treatment after being rescued
from a sinking tourist
boat on the outskirts of Bima, West Nusa
Tenggara, on Aug. 18, 2014. (EPA
Photo/Yudha Hendrawan)
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