19 dead in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Aug 30: An "overloaded" cargo vessel sank on a river on Borneo island Sunday, killing 19 people with 20 still missing, an official said. The Sari Mulia went down after hitting strong currents on the Bataras, 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the city of Banjarmasin, in South Kalimantan province, late Friday.



"There´s no passenger list but we estimate there could be about 150 people on board. Nineteen people died and 116 are saved. Those still missing are feared dead," city search and rescue chief Rosli told AFP. "The boat was overloaded with goods and people. The captain is being investigated," he added.



Indonesia´s 234 million people are spread across 17,000 islands and so are heavily dependent on a network of ships and boats, which have a poor safety record.

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