Migrant ship sinks off Indonesia, Pakistanis among 6 dead

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Migrant ship sinks off Indonesia, Pakistanis among 6 dead

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Indonesian police say an overcrowded wooden ship carrying migrants to Timor island sank off Java.

01 November,2011 07:06 pm

At least six people were killed while another 20 or so are missing.The Pangandaran district police chief says the ship was carrying about 70 people who hoped eventually to reach Australia when it went down Tuesday after leaving the southern port of Cilacap.Capt. Sugiarto, who uses only one name, says rescuers pulled 48 people from the water and recovered the bodies four women and two children who had drowned.Local media citing official sources say the migrants were from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.Indonesias 17,000 islands and miles (kilometers) of unpatrolled coastline have made it a key transit point for smuggling migrants.