INDONESIA: HUNDREDS OF CHRISTIAN REFUGEES FLEEING RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE FEARED DEAD AFTER FERRY SINKS IN ROUGH SEAS.

Record ID: 275154

  • Title: INDONESIA: HUNDREDS OF CHRISTIAN REFUGEES FLEEING RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE FEARED DEAD AFTER FERRY SINKS IN ROUGH SEAS.
  • Date: 30th June 2000
  • Summary: MANADO, NORTH SULAWESI (JUNE 30, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/PAN: WIDE OF PORT TERMINAL 0.08 2. GV/CU: RELATIVES OF PASSENGERS SITTING (2 SHOTS) 0.23 3. CU: CLOSE UP WOMAN CRYING 0.34 4. MV/PAN: RELATIVES AND FRIENDS TALKING 0.45 5. GV/MV/CU: INTERIOR OF TERMINAL - MORE OF FAMILY MEMBERS SITTING (6 SHOTS) 1.29
  • Embargoed: 15th July 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MANADO, NORTH SULAWESI/JAKARTA, TERNATE, HALMAHERA, MOLUCCAS, INDONESIA
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Reuters ID: LVA8CPEC1B6ZKAGIVVV03AQYI7DO
  • Story Text: Christian refugees fleeing a religious war in the
    Indonesian spice islands were among hundreds of people missing
    and feared dead after an overcrowded ferry sank in rough seas.


    Relatives of people aboard a ferry which sank in
    rough seas in the Spice Islands seas waited in vain on Friday
    (June 30) for news of their loved ones.

    The relatives crowded into the port of Manado, in
    Sulawesi, as Indonesian ships scoured the sea for hundreds of
    people, mostly Christian refugees fleeing religious violence
    in the spice islands, who are feared drowned after the
    overcrowded ferry sank in rough seas.

    Rescuers said hopes of finding any survivors were fading.

    The ferry was built to hold 200 passengers but around 500
    are believed to have squeezed in after hundreds of Christians
    scrambled aboard on the island of Halmahera, scene of fierce
    fighting between Christians and Moslems this month.

    Witnesses said the ferry was also carrying around 30
    wounded Christians being transferred to hospitals in Sulawesi
    province.

    "The identities of these refugees are unfortunately not
    registered anywhere because they left in such a condition
    where they were running for their lives in Duma," said
    secretary of the Indonesian Council of Churches' Crisis
    Centre, Febry Tetelepta.

    Most of the refugees were from the Halmahera village of
    Duma, where at least 114 people were killed when armed Moslem
    fighters attacked the village last week, setting ablaze a
    church where refugees were sheltering.

    It was one of the bloodiest clashes in the religious
    conflict, which erupted in early 1999 and has claimed the
    lives of thousands of Christians and Moslems.

    The ferry sank about 40 nautical miles off the northern
    coast of Sulawesi, 2,200 km (1,365 miles) northeast of
    Jakarta. It had been heading for Manado, a mainly Christian
    city in Sulawesi.

    Sulawesi, which like the spice islands has a mixed
    Christian and Moslem population, has seen an influx of
    thousands of refugees of both religions from the conflict in
    the Moluccas.


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