11 dead after boat sinks off East Java coast

The vessel was carrying 21 passengers and crew and a cargo of motorcycles when it capsized on Wednesday night.

Eleven people, including several women and an 8-month-old baby, drowned when a small, overcrowded fishing boat sank off East Java's coast, police said on Thursday.

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The vessel was carrying 21 passengers and crew and a cargo of motorcycles when it capsized on Wednesday night while sailing between two nearby islands about 800 kms east of the capital Jakarta, said local police chief Maj Ary Wahyudi.

Rescuers managed to saved 10 others, including a seven-year-old boy, who were recovered from the water early on Thursday.

Boat accidents claim the lives of hundreds of people each year in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands that relies heavily on waterways to transport people and goods.