More than 350 migrants drown near Indonesia

More than 350 migrants, most of them Iraqis, have drowned after their boat sank off the coast of Indonesia.

More than 350 migrants, most of them Iraqis, have drowned after their boat sank off the coast of Indonesia.

The International Organisation for Migration said it is looking after 44 survivors who were rescued from the sea a day after the boat went down.

There had been 400 people on board, said IOM spokesman Mr Jean-Philippe Chauzy.

Most people on the ship were Iraqis but there were also Iranians, Afghans, Palestinians and Algerians.

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He said he did not have any information on where the ship was heading.

According to survivors who were interviewed by IOM staff, the ship left the island of Java on Thursday with 421 people on board.

Later that day 21 passengers asked to get off the boat and landed on an island in the Java Sea.

Early the following morning, the captain announced that the engine had stopped and the ship was taking on water.

"The boat sank in 10 minutes," said Mr Chauzy.

He said the 44 survivors were being cared for in the town of Bogor in Java.

They include an 8-year-old boy who lost 21 members of his family.