Distraught relatives slammed Indonesia’s government for not enforcing basic safety measures on passenger boats and yesterday pleaded for a bigger search effort for at least 192 people missing since a ferry sank on a picturesque Sumatran lake on Monday.
The wooden vessel, overcrowded with passengers as well as dozens of motorbikes, did not have a manifest and disaster officials have several times raised the number of people it was carrying as family members who rushed to Lake Toba in northern Sumatra provided information.
Only 18 survivors have been found — in bad weather within hours of the sinking Monday evening.
Photo: AFP
It is possible many of the victims were still inside the sunken ferry, North Sumatra Province Police Chief Paulus Waterpau said.
“Many survivors told authorities that less than half of them had jumped into the water before the boat sank,” he said.
Suwarni, whose 20-year-old son and his girlfriend were on the ferry, criticized the search and rescue operation as slow and insufficient.
“Millions of questions keep me from sleeping,” she said between desperate sobs.
“Why a boat for just 50 people is allowed to be loaded with almost 200 people plus dozens of motorcycles,” said Suwarni, who uses one name.
“What kind of government is this that can’t protect their own people from unnecessary accidents? And after the accident they’re not able to find the victims,” she said. “I beg help to everyone to quickly find my son and his girlfriend, even if their remains, please find my son, return him to me.”
Divers were searching at depths of 25m and would deploy an underwater drone to 200m below the surface, Waterpau said.
Lake Toba, formed out of an ancient super volcano, is a popular sightseeing destination and is more than 400m deep.
Hisar Turnit, a spokesman for the search-and-rescue agency in nearby Medan, said four deaths were confirmed after three more bodies were found yesterday morning.
Survivor Juwita Sumbayak, from Medan, said she had crossed the lake many times on the same boat, but on Monday it was terribly overcrowded because of holidays for the end of Ramadan.
In an interview, the distraught mother wept uncontrollably and called out the names of her husband and children who she believes drowned inside the boat.
She said that about 20 minutes into the journey, strong high waves caused the ferry to list to the right and take on water, which sparked a panic among passengers. Then it was smacked hard by more waves and an empty small wooden boat.
The ferry seemed to shake, Sumbayak said, then suddenly capsized.
“Many passengers without a life jacket jumped into the deep lake, but others drowned with the boat,” she said. “I jumped; I cried with fear.”
She said she saw dozens of people in the water “but nobody can help.”
A grief-stricken Muhaimin, 61, said he had lost eight members of his family, including two sons, their wives and children.
“My sons, my daughter-in-laws and my grandchildren have been the victims of greedy businessmen who just want to take advantage of the holiday season without thinking of people’s safety,” he said. “They made money over our misery.”
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