Five Dead, 31 Missing After Boat Sinks Off Malaysian Coast

Jakarta Globe, Camelia Pasandaran, Jun 18, 2014

A Malaysia Maritime officer looks out into the sea during a search and rescue in
 Kuala Langat outside Kuala Lumpur, off Malaysia’s western coast on June 18, 2014.
Five undocumented Indonesians workers died, while 31 others remain missing after the
 boat they were traveling home on sank off Malaysia, an Indonesian official in Kuala
Lumpur told the Jakarta Globe. (Reuters/Samsul Said)

Jakarta. Five undocumented Indonesians workers died, while 31 others remain missing after the boat they were traveling home on sank off Malaysia.

“There were 97 illegal immigrants on the boat, 61 are safe, while five died and 31 are still missing,” Indonesian Deputy Ambassador to Malaysia Hermono told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

He said the five bodies have been taken to a hospital in Klang, which is on the coast of the Malacca Strait.

“We are still identifying them, and we’re trying to find their families to inform them of the accident,” Hermono said.

The boat, carrying some 100 passengers, capsized at the early hours of Wednesday, only one hour after departing from Carey island.

Hermono said the passengers were traveling back to Indonesia to observe the fasting month in their hometowns and celebrate Idul Fitri with their families.

“They are illegal immigrants who were heading to Indonesia from Carey island to Tanjung Balai Asahan in North Sumatra,” Hermono said. “They they feared being arrested, so instead of taking the official travel route home, they paid a higher amount of money to take the boat to Tanjung Balai Asahan, from which they planned to go back to their hometowns [by land].”

Hermono said the incident had been caused by a leakage, resulting in a rapid sinking of the overloaded boat

Thirty of the 61 undocumented workers rescued by the coast guard have reportedly been detained at a local police office in Malaysia, while the remaining 31 survivors reportedly swam back to the coast and were subsequently arrested by the local customs office.

“We will ask the Malaysian government to let us have the children and elderly to be taken to the Indonesian embassy,” Hermono said, adding that Malaysian authorities were still searching for the captain of the boat, as it was unclear whether he had survived the event.

“He might be running away or has probably drowned,” he said.

Hermono explained that the Indonesian and Malaysian governments have agreed on an official travel plan for undocumented migrant workers.

“Of course, they have to pay for the trip and fines, but it’s not higher than the amount they have to pay by using the illegal route. Some of them have to pay up to 1,600 ringgit [$500]. It’s too expensive and is not safe.”