The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| Hopes rise for Japan divers missing off Bali after 5 rescued Posted: 17 Feb 2014 11:45 PM PST Denpasar (Indonesia) (AFP) - Indonesian police said Tuesday they believe villagers on Bali have spotted two Japanese scuba divers alive four days after they went missing, following the astonishing rescue of five others in the same group. A huge search swung into action on Friday when the group of female divers disappeared after setting out on a diving expedition from Nusa Lembongan, just east of the resort island of Bali. As days passed hopes faded that any of the women, all experienced divers, would be found alive in an area known for its stunning underwater beauty but also strong, unpredictable currents. But fishermen found five of the women clinging to a coral reef in rough waters on Monday, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from where they set off, and rescuers plucked them to safety in a helicopter and lifeboat. On Tuesday police said that villagers had reported seeing two people on a coral reef near the same area sending distress signals by shining lights the previous night. "We believe they are the missing Japanese divers and they are alive," local police chief Nyoman Suarsika told AFP. He said rescuers were on the way to the area close to Manta Point, off Nusa Penida island, which lies next to Nusa Lembongan. "We have not been able to reach them yet," he added. Rescue agency officials said earlier that a helicopter and two boats had been dispatched to the area to search for the remaining divers. The five women who have been rescued are all in hospital in Bali. They have suffered dehydration and sunburn but none are in a serious condition, doctors said. "I would like to take a rest for a while, hoping the remaining two are alive." Kazuo Shibata, consul general at the Japanese consulate in Bali, told Japanese media he had visited four of the divers and that they were fine. "They were moved to tears when I told them, 'It's so good you were rescued'," he said. The news was splashed across the front page of major newspapers in Japan, many carrying images of one rescued woman lying on a stretcher, while TV news also supplied regular coverage of the dramatic scene. Friends and colleagues of the two still missing said they were clinging to the belief they were alive. "I believe the two still missing are floating somewhere near the spot where the five were discovered," said diving instructor Toru Furuyama, 40, who knows one of the pair. Another friend Hideki Terayama, an underwater photographer who helped with an effort to raise funds to search for the divers, wrote on his Facebook page: "Let's pray that the other two will be found." Furuyama said it was likely the rescued divers had managed to survive by floating in a group. "That means they can cheer each other up and support each other, mentally and physically," he said. He also said they may have benefited from the weather: "It's their rainy season there, so it's relatively easy to harvest rainwater while floating on the sea." |
| Thai policeman shot dead in protest clashes in Bangkok Posted: 17 Feb 2014 10:17 PM PST BANGKOK (AFP) - A Thai policeman was shot dead as security forces clashed with opposition protesters during an operation to reclaim besieged government buildings in Bangkok Tuesday, resulting in dozens of injuries and arrests. The sound of gunfire and explosions shook an area of the city's historic district just a short walk away from major tourist attractions, after riot police armed with batons, shields and helmets moved to clear rally sites. "One policeman was shot dead and four injured," Police Lieutenant General Prawut Thavornsiri told AFP, adding that one of the casualties was seriously injured by shrapnel from a blast. A total of 44 people were hurt, according to the city's Erawan emergency medical centre. Demonstrators rejected a police demand to leave the area around Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's offices within one hour, a day after they poured buckets of cement onto a sandbag wall in front of a gate to the compound. "The government cannot work here anymore," said a spokesman for the anti-government movement, Akanat Promphan. "The arrests don't affect us. The will of the people is still strong. The government is trapped. It has no way forward." About 100 opposition demonstrators were arrested at a different rally site at an energy ministry complex in the capital on charges of violating a state of emergency, National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattanatabut told AFP. It was the first time that so many protesters have been detained since mass rallies seeking to overthrow Yingluck and her administration began more than three months ago. The protesters are demanding Yingluck resign and hand power to a temporary, unelected government that would carry out reforms to tackle corruption and alleged misuse of public funds before new elections are held. - Years of rival protests - Twelve people have died and hundreds of others have been injured in political violence linked to the latest round of rallies, which have been targeted by a series of grenade attacks and drive-by shootings by unidentified perpetrators. Demonstrators have blocked major intersections in a self-styled "shutdown" of the capital, although attendance has dropped sharply compared with December and January when at the peak tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of people took to the streets. So far the authorities have not announced any plan to clear those road junctions in the retail and commercial centre. Yingluck's government held a general election on February 2 in an attempt to defuse tensions, but the opposition boycotted the vote, saying it would not end the kingdom's long-running political crisis. Demonstrators prevented 10,000 polling stations from opening in the election, affecting several million people. Pro-Thaksin parties have triumphed at the ballot box for more than a decade, helped by strong support in the northern half of the kingdom. But many southerners and Bangkok residents accuse Thaksin and his sister of using taxpayers' money to buy the support of rural voters through populist policies such as a controversial rice farm subsidy scheme. Thaksin is also hated by many in the kingdom's royalist establishment who see him as a threat to the monarchy, at a time of anxiety over the health of 86-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Some observers say that behind the street protests, a clash is unfolding over who will be running the country when the revered but ailing monarch's more than six-decade reign comes to an end. The deployment of security forces has revived memories of a military crackdown on mass pro-Thaksin "Red Shirt" rallies in 2010 under the previous government that left dozens dead. |
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