Ten foreign tourists and five Indonesians were missing Sunday after a boat sank as it travelled between islands in the east of the country, while 10 others have been rescued, search and rescue officials said. The vessel went down Saturday after being caught up in a storm en route from Lombok island to Komodo island, the home of the Komodo dragon - the world's biggest lizard and a draw for tourists.
Those rescued were from New Zealand, Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and France, said search and rescue official Budiawan, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. They had all received medical treatment, officials said.
The nationalities of the foreigners still missing was not immediately clear. The missing Indonesians were four boat crew members and a tour guide.
Bertrand Homassel, a French survivor, said the boat started sinking slowly after its hull was damaged in a storm on Friday night, and he and several others had to swim a long distance to a volcanic island to save themselves.
"Six people were in the lifeboat. The others climbed onto the roof of the boat, which had not completely sunk," he said, speaking from a hotel in Bima on Sumbawa island, where the survivors were taken after being rescued.
On Sunday, they attracted the attention of a passing boat by waving their life jackets, and were rescued and taken to Bima, he said. "I was really very lucky," Homassel added.
Budiawan, the search and rescue official, said that 10 foreigners and five Indonesians were still missing after the boat sank, and efforts were ongoing to find them.
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