At least five people were dead and dozens unaccounted for yesterday after a ferry sank in rough seas on its way to Indonesian resort island Bali, according to rescue authorities who said 31 survivors had been plucked from the water so far.
Rescuers were racing to find 29 people still missing at sea after the KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya carrying 65 passengers and crew sank before midnight on Wednesday, as it sailed to the popular holiday destination from Indonesia’s main island, Java.
“The ferry tilted and immediately sank,” survivor Eka Toniansyah told reporters at a Bali hospital. “Most of the passengers were from Indonesia. I was with my father. My father is dead.”
Photo: Reuters
Java-based Surabaya search-and-rescue agency head Nanang Sigit said that a fifth person was found dead yesterday afternoon.
“Thirty-one victims were found safe, five died, 29 people are still being searched for,” Nanang said.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who was on a trip to Saudi Arabia, ordered an immediate emergency response, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said, adding that the cause of the incident was “bad weather.”
Photo: EPA
Earlier yesterday, Nanang said that efforts to reach the doomed vessel were initially hampered by adverse weather conditions.
Waves as high as 2.5m with “strong winds and strong currents” had affected the rescue operation, he said, adding that conditions have since improved.
A rescue team of at least 54 personnel was dispatched along with inflatable rescue boats, while a bigger vessel was later sent from Surabaya, he said.
Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency Chief Mohammad Syafii told a news conference that the agency sent a helicopter to help the effort.
Rescuers would follow currents and expand the search area if there were still people unaccounted for by the end of the day, Nanang said.
“For today’s search, we are still focusing on search above the water where initial victims were found,” he said.
The ferry’s manifest showed 53 passengers and 12 crew members, but rescuers were still assessing if there were more people onboard, he said.
It was unclear if any foreigners were on board.
Four of the known survivors saved themselves by using the ferry’s lifeboat and were found in the water early yesterday, the Surabaya rescue agency said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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