At least 31 people have died and three more are missing and believed drowned after a ferry sank Tuesday off the island of Sulawesi. Passengers were trapped for a night before they were rescued early Wednesday, officials said.
The captain managed to steer his ship onto a reef to enable the evacuation of more than 100 passengers as the vessel foundered in stormy seas.
The latest ferry disaster in Indonesia, which happened on Tuesday near Sulawesi island, came two weeks after an overcrowded ferry sank on Lake Toba in Sumatra, one of the world’s deepest volcanic lakes, with the death of more than 200 people.
The national search and rescue agency said the boat that ran into trouble near Sulawesi had been carrying 164 passengers and crew. Three passengers were missing but 130 had been rescued, a transport ministry official said.
“The captain ran it onto a reef so it wouldn’t sink and to make the evacuation of passengers easier,” Agus H. Purnomo, the director general of sea transportation, said in a statement.
“The captain and the owner of the ship were the last two people to come down from the passenger ship,” he added.
Photos released by National Disaster Mitigation Agency on Tuesday showed passengers clinging to the listing vessel as others descended into the heavy seas using ropes hung over its side. Most appeared to be wearing lifejackets.
Purnomo credited the captain's actions with helping to save lives.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago made up of more than 17,000 islands, suffers frequent boat accidents, with basic safety rules often flouted and vessels overloaded.
After last month’s sinking in Sumatra, one of the deadliest in nearly a decade, a two-week search and rescue effort found the vessel at a depth of 450 m (1,500 ft) with victims trapped inside, but technical and logistical challenges forced the recovery to be called off.
