Rescuers scoured a remote gulf Monday, December 21, for survivors of a weekend ferry disaster in central Indonesia, as anguished relatives gathered desperate for news from a boat that has still not been found.
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Almost 80 people are still missing about 24 hours after a ferry ran into trouble in rough seas off the coast of Indonesia’s Sulawesi, with the authorities not ruling out the possibility of a sinking.
The ship was en route from Kolaka in Southeast Sulawesi to Siwa in South Sulawesi, and it was hit by a storm around Bone Strait of South Sulawesi, about 12 miles from Siwa.
ANTARA FOTO/REUTERS Rescue workers, police and residents unload the body of a victim who died after the boat sank.
“We’re preparing a large ship to search for the ferry because waves are high”, Ridwan said, as reported by tempo.co on Saturday.
Detiknews reveals at least 14 children were also aboard the fiberglass ferry.
Three ships have been deployed to find the missing ferry, which police said was still afloat with a broken engine, but out of radio contact.
Fishermen found four people, including a woman and a child wearing life jackets early Sunday.
He added that the four who were found earlier Sunday were taken to Port Hospital in Siwa, while the others were on their way to another hospital in Kolaka Utara district.
Indonesia relies heavily on passenger boats to connect 17,000 islands but the transport sector has a poor safety record.
Indonesian boat accidents have killed hundreds of people in recent years.
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Alamsyah said the sunken ship was located 22km from the port in the town of Siwa at a depth of about 200m, but inadequate equipment prevented rescue workers from reaching it.
