Java ferry survivor says bodies dumped from life raft

SURABAYA, Indonesia, Jan 3 (Reuters) A survivor from an Indonesian ferry that sank in the Java sea with more than 600 aboard said that body after body had been dumped from his life raft as people died before help could arrive.

''I was very sad when I had to get rid of the bodies. But I didn't know what else to do with so many dead bodies,'' Leopold Kafares, 35, from Flores island, told Reuters.

He was speaking at a hospital in Surabaya, East Java where he was being treated after being picked up at sea.

At least 205 passengers have been rescued after the sinking of the Senopati Nusantara ferry overnight last Friday, but bad weather and high seas have meant many have only been found after days afloat in life rafts or in the water.

Kafares said when the ferry ran into trouble in rough seas passengers scrambled for life buoys or space in life rafts.

Just as the ship was capsizing, ''I found a life raft in front of me. I struggled to get into the craft with four other people,'' he said.

But the others died in the rough weather conditions and with food and fresh water lacking, as did more people he helped pull into the raft later, he said.

Hundreds are still missing from the Senopati Nusantara, which according to its manifest was carrying 628 people, including 57 crew. Scores of bodies have been sighted afloat or washed up on beaches.

PANIC As of yesterday some survivors were still on life rafts in the open water, with food being airdropped to them as rough seas and bad weather prevented rescue craft from reaching them.

Search and rescue efforts involving military, government agency and civilian vessels, planes and helicopters have focused on saving lives first over recovering the dead.

Another survivor at the Surabaya hospital, Refi Setiawan, a 29-year-old from Central Java, said ferry passengers were screaming hysterically as the ship started to list.

''Panic peaked when water got to the deck. The ship slanted to the left but in a few seconds it slanted to the right and immediately capsized,'' he told Reuters.

''I, thank God, was able to hold onto a wooden panel until a fisherman helped me. I thought I was dead'' after sweltering tropical heat, downpours and being tossed about in the rough seas, said Setiawan.

High waves and strong sea currents were pushing the bodies of the dead and the living eastward in the direction of Surabaya, the capital of East Java province and Indonesia's second largest city, Central Java province rescue coordinator Eko Prayitno told Reuters yesterday.

Rescue efforts are expected to continue through at least the weekend.

Transportation Minister Hatta Rajasa has said the Japanese-built, 2,178-tonne ferry was seaworthy and had a capacity of more than 850 passengers.

Ships and ferries are a popular means of transport among Indonesia's 17,000 islands. However, safety standards are not always enforced, and accidents occur fairly often.

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, is also coping with an apparent airline disaster. A passenger plane with 102 people on board has been missing since Monday.

REUTERS BDP VV1436