• By  Twenty three passengers were missing while more than 100
others swam ashore after an overcrowded boat sank along
Malaysia’s longest river.  Liwan Lagang/Handout via Reuters
Survivors of a capsized boat in a remote part of Borneo island
gather on a river bank Tuesday after they swam ashore.  The
incident, a rarity in Malaysia, occurred in a remote patch of
Borneo island where thousands rely on ferries as their sole
means of transport.  The boat had a seating capacity of 74 but
had 204 people on board as many piled on who didn’t want to miss
the sole ferry that takes eight hours to run between Sibu and
Belaga, police chief in charge of Belaga district, Mr Bakar anak
Sebau, told The Wall Street Journal.   “The boat was negotiating
a rapid when it hit a rock and sank,” Mr. Bakar said.  One
hundred and eighty-one passengers swam to the banks of the
river, which took about five to six minutes, he said.  “Marine
divers and other rescue units including local police are on
their way to search for the missing,” h