BOAT SINKS OFF BATAM, KILLING AT LEAST 18

JAKARTA: At least 18 people died and 40 were missing yesterday after a boat carrying migrant workers capsized off Indonesia’s Batam island, a rescue official said. Thirty-five people were rescued after the accident, said Eko Supriyanto, head of the search and rescue agency in Tanjung Pinang, capital of Riau Islands province. He said the motorised boat was carrying 93 migrant workers from Malaysia to Batam, an island just south of Singapore. The cause of the accident was not immediately clear but the boat appeared to have been crowded, he said. – dpa