Nine bodies found in Indonesia boat capsize

JEMBER: Indonesia rescuers found the bodies of nine asylum-seekers Wednesday from an overloaded boat capsize en route to Australia, an official said, as hopes of finding more survivors dwindled.

"We found them floating in the waters near Banyuwangi district, 200 miles away from where the boat capsized on Saturday," East Java search and rescue agency chief Sutrisno told.

"We are now evacuating them," he said, adding that more rescuers were deployed to the area to scour for bodies.

So far, at least 47 survivors have been rescued after the vessel, which had a capacity of 100 but was carrying 250 mostly Afghan and Iranian migrants, sank 40 nautical miles off eastern Java.

Thirty-four migrants were plucked from shark-infested waters by fishermen on Saturday, and 13 others were found drifting in a dinghy on Monday.