Jakarta, Aug 17 (IANS): Fifteen tourists were reported missing after a boat, carrying foreign holiday-makers, capsized in the waters off Lombok Island in Indonesia, rescuers said Sunday. At least 10 passengers were rescued.
The boat en route from Labuhan in Banten Province to Pulau Komodo on Komodo island hit corals about 1 p.m. Saturday and capsized around 7 p.m., Xinhua quoted Suryaman -- who is only identified by his surname, coordinator of search and rescue office in Bima of West Nusa Tenggara province, as saying.
"Five tourists were rescued by a sailor boat and five others by another boat. The rest 15 remain missing," Suryaman added.
Most of the 10 rescued tourists are from European counties, but the nationalities of the 15 missing persons were yet to be ascertained, he said.
A search operation to trace the missing tourists was underway.