3 Afghans killed in Indonesia boat sinking: official

KABUL): Three Afghans were killed and 19 others rescued when a boat carrying illegal immigrants heading for Australia sank off the coast of east Java in Indonesia on December 17, an official said on Sunday.

Officials in Indonesia have said only 76 people of 380 people on board had been rescued.

The passengers were mainly illegal migrants from Iran and Afghanistan. Many boat people from the Middle East and Asia use Indonesia as a transit point en route to Australia.  

So far 103 dead bodies had been found, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Janan Musazai, told reporters in Kabul.

He said the Afghan Embassy in Jakarta, capital city of Indonesia, sent a delegation to the site of the incident on December 27 to inquire about the exact number of Afghans on board and send back those rescued or dead, Musazai said.

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