BATAM, Indonesia (AFP) - The death toll from aboat accident in Indonesia has climbed to 54, an official said on Friday (Nov 4), after dozens of bodies were found floating in the ocean. Search teams on Friday pulled another 36 corpses from the sea around Batam island, south of Singapore, near where the boat struck a reef and sunk more than two days ago, local police chief Sam Budi Gusdian told reporters. A packed speed boat carrying 98 Indonesian migrant workers, most of them illegal, and three crew sank off Indonesia's Batam island at around dawn on Wednesday, having departed from Malaysia's southern state of Johor. "Forty-one people have been found alive, while six remain missing. Police said the passengers were likely illegal Indonesian migrant workers returning from jobs in Malaysia, and the boat was over capacity at the time of the accident. One of the crew members managed to survive and was being questioned by police, Brig Gen Gusdian said. The Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is heavily dependent on boat transport, but safety standards are lax and fatal accidents common.
The death toll from a boat accident near Singapore reaches 54. The victims are mostly Indonesian migrant workers.