Spanish family missing after tourist boat sinks in Indonesia

Handout photo by Labuan Bajo's Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency shows members of search and rescue teams evacuate foreign tourists in the waters of Padar Island, in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia.
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Updated 27 December 2025
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Spanish family missing after tourist boat sinks in Indonesia

  • The vessel was carrying 11 people when it sank in the Padar Island Strait near the popular destination of Labuan Bajo

JAKARTA: A Spanish family of four is missing after a tourist boat sank in Indonesia, state news agency Antara reported Saturday.

The vessel was carrying 11 people when it sank in the Padar Island Strait near the popular destination of Labuan Bajo on Friday night, Antara said.

Seven people including two Spanish tourists, four crew members and a tour guide were rescued.

A search for the remaining four was continuing on Saturday.

The Labuan Bajo port authority attributed the sinking to high waves of up to three meters (10 feet), Antara said.

“This made it difficult for us to carry out the initial search,” port authority chief Stephanus Risdiyanto told the agency.

Padar Island was closed to tourists on Saturday due to extreme weather conditions.

Marine accidents occur regularly in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands, often due to lax safety standards and bad weather.


China fires rockets in military drills in Taiwan Strait: AFPTV Live

Updated 30 December 2025
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China fires rockets in military drills in Taiwan Strait: AFPTV Live

PINGTAN, China: China fired rockets in the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday morning, AFP footage showed, as a second day of live-fire drills kicked off around the self-ruled island.
AFP journalists in Pingtan — a Chinese island that is the closest point to Taiwan’s main island — saw a volley of rockets blasting into the air at around 9am (0100 GMT), leaving trails of white smoke.