One dead, nine missing after PNG boating incidents

5:36 pm on 6 October 2015

One woman has been confirmed dead and others are missing at sea in Papua New Guinea's eastern islands following twin boating accidents yesterday.

Papua New Guinea showing border with Indonesia's Papua region

Papua New Guinea showing border with Indonesia's Papua region Photo: 123RF

One boat was on its way to a funeral Mioko Island in the Duke of York Islands in East New Britain province, in the strait between Rabaul and Latangai Island.

Winds and choppy waves capsised the boat, leaving one woman dead and two others missing - a five-year-old child and a 19-year-old male.

One elderly woman was able to swim ashore.

The National Disaster Management Office's Elias Babate says search and rescue was called off late last night but is continuing today.

"They didn't take the normal routes that boats, when they come into Kokopo, they normally come through a passage in between two small islands, but what I heard was they took the outer route and came in through the back. It was not really a storm but there were strong south easterly winds which created choppy waters."

In a separate incident in New Ireland Province, a boat carrying seven people is still missing near Tanga Island after also running into bad weather.