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World|life|August 18, 2014 / 09:53 AM
Foreign tourists rescued from sunken Indonesian boat

AKIPRESS.COM - Eight foreign tourists and five Indonesians were rescued from eastern Indonesian waters Monday, leaving two foreigners still missing after a boat with 25 people on board sank over the weekend.

"Around 0100 local time (1800 GMT), 13 people were rescued by local fishermen," Budiawan, the head of the West Nusa Tenggara Research and Rescue Agency, told The Wall Street Journal by telephone.

The rescue comes after 10 people were brought to safety on Sunday. "We are still looking for two people."

He said the survivors rescued Monday were in a state of shock and were taken to a local hospital for treatment. "They were weak as they didn't eat or drink" since their boat, the Forcase Ikan Biru Star, sank on Saturday night, WSJ reports.

The tourist boat, which was heading to Komodo Island, sank in waters off Flores on Saturday evening, apparently after hitting a coral reef in stormy weather, which caused the boat to leak.

"They decided to abandon the boat using life rafts and buoys as the boat sank quickly," Mr. Budiawan said.

He said the foreign tourists are from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany and France. "According to the passenger manifest, there are no passengers from New Zealand," he added.

On Sunday, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency's spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said two of 10 tourists rescued on Sunday were New Zealanders.

The boat's crew and a tour guide comprise the five Indonesians on board.

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