Basarnas Sends Helicopter to Search Sunken Boat Victims

Trenggalek, East Java, - The search and rescue (SAR) service in Surabaya, East Java, has sent a helicopter to help find victims of an illegal migrant boat that sank off Prigi in East Java on Saturday. "Our helicopter left Surabaya this afternoon to help search the victims especially along the sea current from where the boat sank to the east," chief of SAR III Surabaya Sutrisno said upon arrival here on Sunday. He said the search operation would be focused on the area across East Java waters and up to Bali waters. Sutrisno also said that a Basarnas (national SAR agency) boat had also been sent westward from Bali to help the search. Several naval boats from the Eastern Fleet in East Java have also been deployed to maximize the rescue efforts. "All parties have been involved in the effort," Sutrisno said. East Java regional police deputy chief Brigadier General Edy Sumantri said in Prigi on Sunday "our helicopter has been sent to the Prigi waters but so far no result has been made." He said he had ordered all police offices along the East Java coast line from Trenggalek to Jember and Banyuwangi to scour the area with regard to finding victims. A boat believed to be carrying around 250 illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia sank at around 9am on Saturday in the waters off East Java due suspectedly to over capacity. The boat is believed to have departed from West Java or Jakarta on the way to Christmas Islands in Australia. So far 33 of its passengers have been saved while the fate of others have not been known. (*)