Merauke, 9/2 (Jubi) – Five Indonesians went missing after their speed boat operated was burnt down by approximately 10 Papua New Guinea soldiers for entering the country’s waters last week, one of the survivors said.
Ten Indonesians were on the speedboat when it was intercepted by PNG soldiers in the coastal waters of Karu, Papua New Guinea on Thursday (6/2) at around 4.30 pm CDT. Five of the managed to swim ashore but the other five went missing.
The five Indonesians who managed to escape are Anton Basik-Basik, James Mahuze, Marsel Gebze, Sylvester Basik-Basik and Andreas Mahuze while those missing are Alex Tjoa, Ferdi Tjoa, Robi Rasel, John Kaize Fikra.
Anton Basik-Basik, one of the survivors told tabloidjubi.com on
“We were told to kneel at gun point. A few moments later, two soldiers took a bucket of gasoline and pour it on the speed boat. After that, they left with one pack of cigarettes and some money that we would use to buy sea cucumber,” he said.
The Indonesians tried to douse the fire but were unsuccessful because of high waves and strong wind. They jumped into the sea to swim to reach the coast 3- 4 kilometers away.
“Several of our friends couldn’t swim. We helped them to stay afloat but after some time we were too tired and had no energy,”he said.
Up on the beach, only five appeared, while the others did not show up.
“We waited, but they did not appear. So decided together to walk towards to the post via the Torasi River at around 8 pm Cdt,” he said.
“On the way, a speed passes and managed to help us to get to the post’s Torasi Lantamal XI Merauke. We told the story to the border police. Moments later, police conducted a search but our friends have not been found,” he said. (Jubi/Frans L Kobun/Frans)
