DENPASAR: Indonesian rescuers were racing on Thursday (Jul 3) to find at least 61 people missing after a ferry sank on its way to the popular resort island of Bali, a local search and rescue agency said.
The vessel sank before midnight on Wednesday in the Bali Strait as it sailed to the famous holiday destination from Indonesia’s main island Java, the Surabaya search and rescue agency said in a statement on Thursday.
“KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya … sank about 25 minutes after weighing anchor,” the Java-based agency said.
“The ferry’s manifest data totalled 53 passengers and 12 passenger crews,” it said, adding in a later statement that four people were rescued in the early hours of Thursday.
The agency said the boat sank on its way from Banyuwangi in eastern Java to a port in northern Bali but did not give a cause for the accident.
It said a rescue team and inflatable rescue boats were dispatched immediately and a bigger vessel was later sent from Surabaya to assist the search efforts.
The four known survivors saved themselves by using the ferry’s lifeboat and were found in the water early on Thursday, the agency said.
It said the ferry was also transporting 22 vehicles, including 14 trucks.
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