JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers searched for a Spanish soccer coach and his three children on Saturday after a tour boat carrying 11 people sank overnight near Padar Island, a popular destination within Komodo National Park, officials said.
The boat was carrying a family of six, four crew members and a local guide when it went down on Friday evening after suffering engine failure on a trip from Komodo Island to Padar, said Fathur Rahman, who heads the Maumere Search and Rescue Office.
He said three people were rescued by a passing vessel, and four others were picked up by a search and rescue team. The survivors included the Spanish mother and one daughter. The father, two sons and another daughter were missing, he said.
The Spanish soccer club Valencia said that a coach for its women's reserve team, Fernando Martín, and three of his children were among the victims. In a statement on X, Valencia CF expressed condolences, saying their deaths were confirmed by local authorities. Real Madrid CF also offered condolences on the death of Martin, 44, and his three children.
However, Rahman said the search was suspended Saturday evening because of bad weather and poor visibility and will resume early Sunday.
“Our teams have been combing the northern waters of Padar Island until dusk,” Rahman said. “We are determined to find the victims.”
Komodo National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site famed for its rugged landscapes, pristine beaches and the endangered Komodo dragon. The park attracts thousands of visitors for diving, trekking and wildlife tours.
The survivors were treated at the port office in Labuan Bajo city as strong waves up to 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) high and darkness hampered emergency responders overnight, Rahman said.
The search involved multiple rescue units in inflatable boats, a navy vessel with diving equipment and a rescue ship, with the assistance of local fishermen and residents. It was centered on a 5-nautical-mile (9-kilometer) radius of the sinking site, where rescuers found the boat debris, Rahman said.
Indonesia is an archipelago with more than 17,000 islands, where boats are a common form of transportation. With lax safety standards and problems with overcrowding, accidents occur frequently.
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, rescuers examine a debris believed to be a part of a tour boat that sank, near Padar Island within Komodo National Park, Indonesia. (BASARNAS via AP)
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, rescuers examine a debris believed to be from a tour boat that sank, near Padar Island within Komodo National Park, Indonesia. (BASARNAS via AP)
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, rescuers examine the waters where a debris believed to be from a tour boat that sank was found, near Padar Island within Komodo National Park, Indonesia. (BASARNAS via AP)
HOMS, Syria (AP) — Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday in the rain and cold outside of a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs for the funeral of eight people killed in a bombing, as an imam warned that the attack could spark more sectarian violence.
The crowd assembled next to the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque, the target of Friday's attack that also wounded 18 others. The population of the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood, where the mosque is located, is predominantly from the Alawite minority. They later drove in convoys to bury the victims.
Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect.
A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.
The same group had previously claimed a suicide attack in June in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday.
A neighbor of the mosque, who asked to be identified only by the honorific Abu Ahmad ("father of Ahmad") out of security concerns, said he was at home when he heard the sound of a “very very strong explosion.”
He and other neighbors went to the mosque and saw terrified people running out, he said. They entered and began trying to help the wounded.
Sheikh Mohieddin Salloum, the imam of the mosque, who was lightly injured in the explosion, said the mosque was Alawite but was open to Muslims of other sects to come and pray, and they often did so.
“This is God’s house — our Sunni neighbors come and pray here with us, but in small numbers. They might be five or 10” out of 300 attendees during Friday prayer, he said.
Salloum said he believes the attack was intended to set off a new round of sectarian strife as the country struggles to heal after a nearly 14-year civil war that ended with the ouster of former President Bashar Assad in December 2024.
Anger was palpable among Alawite residents who gathered for the funeral, but the imam called for calm.
“They set an explosion in an Alawite mosque to create emotions of hate and anger among the Alawites, and maybe a few days later someone will set off an explosion in a Sunni mosque and say that the Alawites took revenge," Salloum said. "Then the idiots from both sides will come and start fighting, and we'll all be dragged behind them if we don't keep level heads.”
The country has experienced several waves of sectarian clashes since Assad's fall. Assad, an Alawite, fled the country to Russia.
In March, an ambush carried out by Assad’s supporters against security forces triggered days of violence that left hundreds of people dead, most of them Alawites. Since then, although the situation has calmed, Alawites have been targeted sporadically in sectarian attacks.
Syrian government officials condemned Friday's attack and pledged to hold the perpetrators accountable.
Mourners prayed outside because they were unable to enter the mosque as the crime scene remained cordoned off. Some marched through the streets chanting “Ya Ali," a reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law whom Shiite Muslims consider to be his rightful successor.
Mourners attend the funeral of victims of an attack a day earlier at the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque, outside the mosque in the predominantly Alawite Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood of Homs, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
Syrian security officers inspect the site of an attack a day earlier at the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the predominantly Alawite Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood of Homs, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
Syrian security officers inspect the site of an attack a day earlier at the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the predominantly Alawite Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood of Homs, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
Relatives mourn during the funeral of victims of an attack a day earlier at the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the predominantly Alawite Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood, at a cemetery on the outskirts of Homs, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A man holds an imaginary depiction of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad who is revered by Syria's Alawite community, during the funeral of victims of an attack a day earlier at the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the predominantly Alawite Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood of Homs, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
Syrian security forces inspect the damage after an explosion in the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood in Homs, Syria Friday, Dec. 26, 2025.(AP Photo)
