Brawl between Filipino and Indonesian fishery workers leads to 1 death and 3 injuries

菲律賓和印尼漁工之間的鬥毆導致1人死亡和3人受傷

Fight between Filipino and Indonesian fishery workers leading to 1 death and 3 injuries in Kaohsiung Harbor


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- A fight between Filipino and Indonesian fishery workers broke out early Sunday morning in Kaohsiung Harbor, resulting in one death and three serious injuries, according to Kaohsiung police.

At about 12:30 a.m. Sunday (Nov. 26) morning police received a report that a fight had broken out among migrant fishery workers on a fishing vessel named Hohung No. 168 (合鴻一六八號) at the west coast peer of Kaohsiung Harbor.

When police arrived on the scene, they found that two male Philippine nationals, identified as Antolin and Alejandro, had fallen overboard, and that the former showed no signs of life, reported Liberty Times. Meanwhile, their fellow Filipino crewmen, identified as Agudera and Bayaua, had both suffered multiple injuries and had been sent to the hospital for treatment.

After a police search of the boat's toilet and cabins, they found an Indonesian suspect identified as Aldrin along with five other Indonesian fishing boat workers, many of whom had also suffered numerous injuries, including bleeding due to blunt force head trauma.

According to police, six Indonesian fishery workers from three other boats gathered together and met on the Hohung to gather for a meal and drinks, meanwhile, the four Filipinos had gathered on the boat to do the same.

After the two parties were intoxicated from many drinks, a dispute started between the two groups and a fight eventually ensued.

Aldrin and his compatriots allegedly then stormed out of the mess cabin and grabbed aluminum bars and wooden sticks next to the ship's staircase and returned to attack their Filipino counterparts. Not to be outdone, the Filipino fishermen also grabbed aluminum bars to fight back, but they were overwhelmed by the Indonesians' superior numbers.

Antolin and Alejandro were chased to the main deck and both jumped overboard in an attempt to flee the Indonesian assailants. However, Antolin lost consciousness and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.


Scene of the brawl between the Filipino and Indonesian fishery workers. (CNA image)

The Indonesian men then hid or tried to flee the scene by taking taxis. The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office has now taken up the case.

Police estimate that the brawl inflicted NT$200,000 (US$6,665) in damage to the fishing vessel and the owner will seek compensation from the Indonesian fishermen. In addition, the Hohung had a total of 64 fishery workers of many nationalities, five of which have gone missing since the melee and police are now searching for their whereabouts.

Last week there were two cases of assault involving foreign fishermen in Kaohsiung Harbor which resulted in three injuries. Kaohsiung Harbor police said that many squid vessels have recently returned to the harbor and so they plan to step up their inspections to try to curtail the violence.