Hunt on after boat tragedy south of Indonesia

Indonesia and Australia are still searching for nearly 90 Australia-bound suspected asylum seekers missing after their overloaded boat capsized in heavy seas south of Indonesia. The Associated Press quoted Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman Jo Meehan as saying four Indonesian and Australian warships, five Australian government aircraft, and four merchant ships had joined the search operation on Friday. The boat was initially carrying 200 suspected asylum seekers before capsizing on Thursday. “The vast majority of the survivors are healthy and won't need medical attention,” Meehan said. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said, “At this stage, details are sketchy, but what is apparent is there has been a large loss of life at sea.” “This is a very distressing and tragic incident.” Indonesia suffers from a weak and unsafe naval transportation network, though its 240-million population is heavily dependent on the means of travel. Sea accidents are common in Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago with more than 17,000 islands.