Cargo Vessel Capsizes, Two Killed

Tembilahan, Riau Islands, July 9 (ANTARA) - Two people were killed after a motor vessel carrying 5,000 sacks of cement capsized in Tanjung Bakong waters in Riau Islands province late Thursday, local police said on Friday.

The motor vessel, Golden Lestari GT 72, met the accident while on its way from Batam Island to Kijang Island, Adjunct Commissioner Elizar, chief of the water police unit at the Indragiri Hilir police resort, said.

The vessel with 18 people on aboard sank after being hit by huge waves, he said.

"We have yet to name suspects in the shipwreck which claimed the lives of two people. Under the law, no cargo vessels are allowed to carry passengers," he said.

The dead victims were identified as Hj Safi (60) and Yati (32), both of them passengers.