At least 21 people were killed and five were missing after an Indonesian ferry carrying scores of wedding revellers capsized in rough seas, officials said yesterday.
There were 180 passengers aboard the Beringin Jaya when the boat flipped over on Thursday off the remote island of Kabaruang between Indonesia's Sulawesi island and the Philippines, Tahuna District Naval Base official Captain Zulkarnain said.
He said the latest information was "150 people survived, 21 were found dead, five are still missing, and four are being treated at a local hospital."
Police and navy estimates of the number on board had earlier ranged between 200 and 300.
"There were so many people on that boat, and many people jumped on even way after the ticket booth was closed," said Captain Alamsyah, a spokesman at the main North Sulawesi naval base in Manado city.
One navy source said a large party on board was going to a wedding on Kabaruang island, and that the boat capsized due to over-crowding.
Kabaruang is in the Sangihe Talaud archipelago, about 2,500km northeast of Jakarta.
A huge number of ferries ply the waters of Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, and accidents, often caused by overcrowding or bad weather, occur periodically.
The number of passengers a ferry is registered to carry is often much less than the actual number on board.
The worst boat accident in recent years in Indonesia took place in June 2000 when an overcrowded vessel carrying almost 500 passengers, mostly refugees fleeing sectarian violence, sank in bad weather. Only 10 survived.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS