Indonesian rescuers found 15 people alive yesterday 100km from where a boat capsized, raising hopes of more survivors among 200 missing asylum seekers who were en route to Australia.
Thirteen of the survivors found on a dinghy 100km from the capsize are receiving medical treatment in a temporary shelter on the outskirts of the city of Jember in eastern Java and most cannot walk, a correspondent said.
Two Indonesian men were found on Sendang Biru beach near eastern Java’s Malang city and are suspected to be crewmembers who abandoned the sinking ship.
“But we cannot confirm that just yet,” East Java provincial Disaster Management Agency chief Siswanto said
The fiberglass vessel had a capacity of 100 people, but was carrying about 250 migrants — mostly Afghans and Iranians — when it sank on Saturday, 40 nautical miles (74.1km) off eastern Java.
Fishermen plucked 34 survivors from shark-infested waters six hours after the boat capsized and were taken to the city of Blitar on Sunday for identification by the International Organization for Migration, officials said.
Survivors interviewed said they were heading to Australia’s remote Christmas Island when their boat was hit by a storm and capsized.
Crewmembers and migrants had wrestled over 25 life vests on the doomed boat, officials said.
“The migrants said the six crewmembers had rushed for the life vests, put them on themselves and swam off,” East Java search and rescue agency chief Sutrisno said.
The Australian newspaper said an associate of Afghan human-trafficking kingpin Sayed Abbas was believed to be responsible for sending the latest boat on its ill-fated journey.
It reported that Indonesian authorities were investigating Haji Ismail, also known as Sayed Azad or Sayed Jalal, as a prime suspect after his name was supplied to investigators by survivors.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
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