At least one person has been found dead and a dozen others remain missing after an overloaded passenger ferry sank in a river in the Malaysian portion of the island of Borneo, police said Wednesday.
The accident occurred on Tuesday near Belaga, in Sarawak province.
Authorities on Wednesday raised to 192 the number of survivors after another 11 people were rescued and taken to a shelter set up near the accident site.
Officials have been searching for survivors and/or bodies in a zone up to three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the spot where the ferry sank.
The ferry, the maximum safe operating capacity of which was 67 passengers, was traveling downriver with about 200 people on board, several of them sitting on the roof, when it hit some rocks in the river and capsized.
Most of the passengers were returning to their villages to celebrate the Gawai harvest festival, the most important of the year for members of the Dayak tribe, this coming weekend.
The Malaysian provinces of Sarawak and Sabah occupy the northern portion of Borneo, while the remaining 73 percent of the island's territory belongs to Indonesia.
Friday 31 May 2013
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/agencia-efe/130531/1-dead-a-dozen-missing-in-borneo-river-shipwreck
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