FOUR OTHER SPEEDBOAT VICTIMS FOUND DEAD

Ambon, Feb 1 (ANTARA) - At least four other victims of the sinking Dolphin speedboat were found dead in Usir island waters, Aru district, Maluku province, on Monday morning, said Dobo Port Administrator, Billy Picarima.

In the search for victims of the sunken speed boat, which traveled from Dobo to Tual districts, South East Maluku, on January 27, only one out of eight victims discovered has survived so far, Picarima said in Ambon on Monday.

Based on the owner's information, the Dolphin speedboat was driven by Hasyim alias Faizal and carried 35 passengers.

"There are 27 victims left to be found, an intensive search is being conducted using the Indonesian Naval (TNI-AL) military aircraft and fishing boats," he said.

Bad weather with 60 km per hour winds and moderate to intense heavy rains along with 4-5 metre tides in the Aru Sea has made the search effort difficult.

All the seven dead bodies have now been evacuated to Dobo hospital to be identified, and the only survivor is a Chinese citizen recently identified as Khe Kaizen.

The Dolphin speedboat left Dobo without carrying any permit from the port administration.

Khe Kaizen is one of 24 missing People's Republic of China citizens who were shipped by the company as laborers to build PT. Arabika Jaya Tama (AJT) factory at Warabal.

On the boat there were also two police officers, namely Adjunct Commissioner Edwin Situmorang and Second-Class Constable Fadel Baharuddin.

Another identified passenger was John Mairuhu a civil servants and a manager of PT. AJT.