Seven killed when tornado hits vessel off Indonesia's Kalimantan

[News_Editor]

Seven killed when tornado hits vessel off Indonesia's Kalimantan

2010-12-17 11:50:39 GMT+7 (ICT)

BALIKPAPAN, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- Seven of the twenty-one passengers on a vessel off the coast of Indonesia's Kalimantan island were killed on late Wednesday evening when a tornado caused strong waves, local authorities said on Friday.

Disaster Management Agency Chief Zainal Ariffin arrived at the site of the incident on Thursday morning, saying the seven bodies and the 14 survivors were all repatriated back to their homes.

According to a statement by the survivors, the 2.7-ton vessel took off the Rantau Bujur village in Sungai Buluh at around 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday evening with as many as 21 people aboard. The passengers were on their way to a wedding.

However, about 30 minutes after their departure, strong winds began developing and the river water rose with waves reaching 1.5 meters tall. Survivors said the tornado pulled in the boat and along with the smashing waves, the vessel was lifted about 3 meters up into the air, slightly spinning in the air before crashing down violently.

The ship jumped into the air on a number of occasions. Later in the night, search and rescue teams recovered five bodies while two more were found on Thursday morning.

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