JAKARTA: Rescuers continued searching for 15 fishermen who went missing after their boat sank in the Arafura Sea, an Indonesian official said on Tuesday.
The boat, KM Setia Makmur 06, was hit by huge waves during poor weather when it was sailing in the sea on Saturday, said Darmawan Widi, spokesman of the search and rescue office in Merauke district of Indonesia's Papua province.
A search and rescue operation was carried out after the office received the information about the incident, and several other fishing boats near the site were asked to help the operation, said the official. "Ten people have been rescued safely, but 15 others remain missing," he told Xinhua, saying the boat carried 25 people.
The search for the victims was also conducted by air and a plane of the Indonesian air force was involved, according to the official. "Today, a navy's warship would also be deployed to the scene," he said.
The fishing boat departed from a seaport in Dobo, the capital of Kepulauan Aru (Aru islands) district of Maluku province, on June 24, he added.