Keystone-SDA
At least six people died and thirty are missing after the sinking Wednesday evening of a ferry carrying 65 people to the island of Bali in Indonesia.
(Keystone-ATS) The rescuers try Thursday to find the 30 people always missing following the sinking occurred 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.
A sixth victim – a three -year -old boy – was found dead Thursday in the evening, held rescue operations said, one more than the previous balance sheet which amounted to 5 dead.
The authorities did not specify if foreigners were on board.
“All research and rescue equipment has been used (…) which led to the discovery of 29 survivors and six [victimes] Who died, “Ribut Eko Suyatno, operations manager for the National Research and Rescue Agency, told journalists.
The research to find the missing victims will be suspended Thursday in the evening and will resume on Friday, said a member of the research and rescue team of Surabaya.
“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 ”.
Bad weather
Waves 2.5 meters high accompanied by “strong winds and a strong current”, initially disrupted the rescue operations, explained Nanang Sigit, director of the local rescue agency based in Surabaya.
“The KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya (…) sank about 25 minutes after raising anchor,” said the Surabaya 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, “53 passengers and 12 crew members,” said the research and rescue agency said on Thursday, adding that the ship sank around 11:20 p.m. local time (5:20 p.m. Swiss).
The emergency teams are trying to check if the number of people on board complies with the declared list.
Four of the known survivors used a ferry rescue canoe and were found at sea early Thursday morning.
Rescue operations
More than fifty naval and police officers on 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 on Thursday, adding that the teams would extend research according to 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.
