32 feared dead in boat sinking in Indonesia as search ends
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Indonesian rescuers on Thursday ended search for 23 missing persons after the speed boat they traveled in sank on Jan. 27 in eastern Indonesia, and all of them could have been dead, rescuers said.
After finding nine bodies and one survivor, rescuers have not found any other new victims, head of rescue operation at Maluccas Amin Bintongke told Xinhua. "Chances are slim that the missing persons are still alive as nine days have passed. Besides, the weather condition is very extreme,"he said.
Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics has given warning on the weather condition recently.
According to Indonesia's legal procedures, the searching lasts for seven days.
However, Bintongke said that the searching could be resumed should have there any signals of victims in the waters, or a request from the headquarters of the National Disaster Management Agency office or firms.
Chinese Embassy to Indonesia and rescuers have said there were 24 Chinese among the 33 people on board the speed boat.
Bintongke reaffirmed that so far, three Chinese -- two died and one survived -- are among the five people who could be identified.
The Dolphin speed boat sank one hour after leaving a sea port in Dobo, heading to Tual of Maluccas.
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