Passengers Die When Vessels Collide In Haze

A passenger ship taking farm families on the island of Borneo to market collided with a tugboat on a river shrouded in thick, smoky haze. Four people died and 21 were missing, the official Antara news agency reported Monday.

Visibility was just 3 to 5 yards when the boats collided Sunday on the Barito River, 550 miles northeast of Jakarta, according to Antara. It was the latest in a series of such accidents attributed to the haze.

Two of the four victims confirmed dead were children, a local transportation official, identified only as Muskeri, told Antara. By Monday, none of the missing had been found.

Muskeri said 62 people were aboard the passenger vessel, mostly farmers and their families heading to a local market.