Boat carrying migrants sinks off Indonesia

A boat carrying about 120 Middle Eastern migrants sank off the Indonesian island of Java on Friday, leaving at least 19 people dead and 71 missing, dpa cited Indonesian police as saying. Twenty-five people were rescued off Cianjur district in West Java, said Cecep Suhendar, a local police officer. Lebanese, Iranians and Iraqis believed to be on their way to Australia to seek asylum were among the victims, he said. Lebanon's official National News Agency reported that at least 16 of the dead were Lebanese. A survivor said the boat was carrying mostly Lebanese people. The news agency said that among the dead were nine members of a single family. The accident is reported to have happened when the boat struck a rock. Voice of Lebanon radio said the migrants had paid as much as 10,000 dollars each to a Lebanese smuggler to help them reach Australia. The majority of the Lebanese victims are said to have come from the northern region of Akkar, near the Syrian border.