Final Search For Missing Victims Of Nabire's Boat Accident

Jayapura, Papua, Aug 1 (Antara) - The Search and Rescue (SAR) team on Friday deployed three boats for carrying out the final search for the two missing people on board the speedboat that capsized in West Papua`s Nabire waters on Saturday. Identified as Selvi and Linda, the two missing passengers and five other people were traveling on a speedboat from Kwatisore to Nabire when it was engulfed by rough seas. Two passengers drowned, and three others managed to swim ashore, but Selvi and Linda, the civil servants of Yamoor administration sub-district in Kaimana District, remained missing. Nabire military district commander Lieutenant Colonel Yohannes Purba noted that Friday was the last day for the rescue team to search for the missing passengers. He stated that since the accident took place, search efforts had been carried out by using a helicopter and two speedboats in Wami, Sima, and Kwatisore waters and around the isles of Nuburi, Papaya, Nene, and Yaur. "We will conduct the final search today, and we hope that we can find the bodies of Selvi and Linda," Yohannes emphasized. He added that one of the two fatalities was Sergeant Said of the Indonesian Army who was the skipper of the ill-fated speedboat when it capsized. Sea accidents were rampant in numerous places during the 2014 Idul Fitri celebrations. A traditional boat with 70 people on board sank in the Kuala Kapuas River in Central Kalimantan on Tuesday, killing 12 passengers and rendering six others missing. The ill-fated boat that sank on its way from the Panamas village to Kota Kuala Kapuas was believed to be overloaded with 70 passengers and tens of motorcycles. According to the spokesman of the Central Kalimantan search and rescue agency Amrizuna, the search was still ongoing for the missing passengers. Also, on Wednesday, another boat capsized in the Kubung Sei Berombang River in Labuhanbatu District, North Sumatra, killing 14 people on board. "Fourteen bodies have been recovered, including one infant," Taufik Nasution, the coordinator of the local chapter of the Indonesian Rescuer Alliance (API) remarked in Labuhan Batu, North Sumatra, on Thursday. Nasution added that the ill-fated boat had set sail from Air Hitam hamlet, Kualuh Leidong sub-district, North Labuhan Batu District and was on its way to Sei Berombang when it capsized.