Keystone-SDA
At least four people died and 23 were rescued after the sinking Wednesday evening of a ferry carrying 65 people to Bali Island in Indonesia, a local police officer said on Thursday.
(Keystone-ATS) At least four people died and almost thirty are missing after the sinking Wednesday evening of a ferry carrying 65 people to the island of Bali in Indonesia.
The rescuers who have already recovered 31 people at sea, according to a new assessment, try Thursday to find other survivors of the sinking occurring shortly before midnight. The ferry started from Banyuwangi, on the eastern coast of Java, to reach the north of the island of Bali, according to the National Research and Rescue Agency.
“Four people are dead, so 30 people are still wanted,” the head of this agency Mohamada Syaffi said in a press conference, adding that a helicopter participates in research.
The authorities did not specify if foreigners were on board.
“The ferry stuck and immediately sank,” Eka Toniansyah told a survivor, to journalists in a Bali hospital. “Most passengers came from Indonesia. I was with my father. (He) died ”.
Waves 2.5 meters high accompanied by “strong winds and a strong current”, disturbed rescue operations, said Nanang Sigit, director of the local rescue agency based in Surabaya, who had mentioned earlier a 38 missing.
“The KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya (…) sank about 25 minutes after raising anchor,” said the agency, adding that the ferry “also transported 22 vehicles, including 14 trucks”.
Indonesian President Prabowo Suubianto, visiting Saudi Arabia, ordered the immediate deployment of emergency aid, said the secretary of the cabinet Teddy Indra Wijaya in a statement on Thursday.
The ferry has sunk due to “bad weather,” said the latter.
The crossing of the port of Katapang, east of Java to the port of Gilimanuk, north of Bali, separated by about 5 km, lasts about an hour, and is commonly carried out by the inhabitants of the region.
According to the list of on -board people, “53 passengers and 12 crew members”, were on board, said the research and rescue agency said on Thursday, adding that the ship had sunk around 11:20 p.m. GMT).
The emergency teams are trying to check if the number of people on board complies with the declared list.
The four rescued people used a ferry rescue canoe and were found at sea early Thursday morning.
Rescue operations
About fifty naval and police officers, aboard the rescue canoes were dispatched to the area and a ship was then sent from Surabaya.
“We are still focusing on research on the surface of the water where the first victims were found,” said Nanang, adding that the teams would extend research according to the currents.
Maritime accidents regularly occur in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of around 17,000 islands, partly due to lax safety standards.
In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in agitated sea conditions off the same tourist island of Bali. An Australian died and at least another person was injured.
In 2018, more than 150 people died when a ferry sunk in Lake Toba, one of the deepest lakes in the world on the island of Sumatra.
In 2022, a ferry carrying more than 800 people failed in shallow waters off the province of Nusa Tenggara eastern, in the east of the archipelago, and remained blocked for two days before being cleared. No one injured had been reported.
