ONE DEAD, EIGHT MISSING AFTER BOAT SINKS IN OBI WATERS

Ternate, Feb. 7 (ANTARA) - A long boat reportedly sank in waters near the Obi Islands group , Halmahera Selatan (Halsel) District, North Maluku, on Friday leaving one passenger dead and eight others missing.

The boat with 21 people on board sank on its way from Labuha to Obi Islands on Friday evening, First Inspector Rahman Dundu of the Halsel Police, said here on Saturday.
The names of the ill-fated boat's passengers, including those missing and dead, were not yet known, due to a communication line problem from Labuha to Obi, he said.
Among the passengers there were three Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) activists and a few doctors, he said. Two of the PKS members were found but one was still missing.
People first heard about the boat accident from one of its passengers, Mochtar Usman, chief of Pasir Putih village, who managed to swim to shore in Obi sub district.
After Usman had told local authorities about the shipwreck, villagers using two speed boats and one traditional motor-boat immediately mounted a search for the victims.
In the search, they found 11 survivors, while two other passengers were rescued by MV Obi Star which was sailing from Ternate to Obi Island.
Efforts to locate the eight still missing passengers were continuing on Saturday.