250 dead in Indonesia boat capsize
Parepare, Jan 12: A ferry capsized in a severe storm and crashing waves in central Indonesia on Sunday Jan 11. Officials said around 250 people were feared dead. Eighteen survivors were rescued by fishing boats, but the fate of the others remained unclear, said Taufik, a port official at Parepare on the island of Sulawesi, where the ferry began its journey. Taufik uses one name, as is common in Indonesia.
About
250
passengers
and
17
crew
are
believed
to
have
been
onboard
the
ferry
when
it
went
down
50
kilometres
off
the
coast
off
western
Sulawesi.
The
700-ton,
Teratai
Prima
travelled
from
the
western
port
of
Parepare
to
Samarinda
on
the
Indonesian
half
of
Borneo
island.
At least 22 people, including four crew members, were pulled from the sea by fishermen on Sunday, Jan 11 before the military launched an operation at daybreak Monday, Jan 12. Indonesians generally don't know how to swim, and the others on board were feared dead. "Another 250 names listed as passengers are still missing," said Junaidi, a port official in Parepare, where some of the survivors were taken to a hospital. He uses one name, which is customary in Indonesia.
The ferry went down 30 miles (50 kilometers) off the coast off western Sulawesi. Transport Minister Jusman Syafi'i Djamal said the captain who was among those pulled alive from the sea reported that 150 people jumped off the boat before it sank, but he did not know what happened to them.
"We
have
prepared
a
search
and
rescue
operation,
but
now
there
are
high
waves
hampering
the
process,"
Djamal
said.
The
ship,
carrying
about
18
tons
of
cargo,
radioed
that
it
was
"hit
by
a
storm"
before
it
went
down,
said
Nurwahida,
a
port
official.
He
also
uses
one
name.
The
closest
town
to
the
accident
site
is
Majene,
about
850
miles
(1,370
kilometers)
northeast
of
the
capital,
Jakarta.
Boats are a major form of transportation in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands and a population of 235 million. Poor enforcement of safety regulations and overcrowding causes accidents that claim hundreds of lives each year.
In December 2006, a crowded Indonesian ferry broke apart and sank in the Java Sea during a violent storm, killing more than 400 people.
OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)