JAKARTA, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers have retrieved three bodies and are continuing search and rescue for four other people after a passenger boat went down in waters off East Nusa Tenggara province of central Indonesia, a senior rescuer said on Sunday.
KM Motor Nusa Kenari 02 boat heading for Kupang district sank in waters off Alor district after leaving a seaport in the district on Saturday, head of the search and rescue office in Kupang district Emi Frizer said.
"We have deployed KN Antareja 238 rescue ship, a RIB boat and a speedboat with 20 personnel," he told Xinhua by phone from Kupang district.
Search and rescue mission also included sailors in coastal areas, anticipating that the victims were swept by the current to waters near the areas, Frizer added.
A total of 54 people survived the incident by swimming, media officer of the national search and rescue office Yusuf Latief told Xinhua a day earlier.
Boat is an effective transport means in the vast-archipelagic nation, however, the crews have often not fully lived up to the safety standard, which endangers the journey at sea.
