25 missing after ferry sinks in Indonesia, rescue ops underway

Rescuers in Indonesia were searching for 25 people who were missing after a ferry sank in the Makassar Strait in Central Sulawesi province, officials said Sunday.

A total of 42 people were on the boat when it sank in bad weather on Thursday morning while traveling from a seaport in Makassar to Kalmas Island in Pangkep Regency, said Djunaedi, the head of the South Sulawesi National Search and Rescue Agency.

Like many Indonesians, Djunaedi goes by only one name.

"We received information saying that 17 people were found and saved by passing tugboats," Djunaidi, the local search and rescue agency chief, told news agency AFP.

A group of 40 rescuers were at sea searching for survivors, he added, saying news of the accident only reached officials on Saturday.

On Thursday, Indonesia's weather agency had warned of waves up to 2.5 meters (8 feet) in the Makassar Strait areas.

With some 17,000 islands in the vast archipelago, Indonesia is a country that relies heavily on water transportation. This doesn't come without risks, and maritime accidents with high death tolls are quite common in the Southeast Asian country.

Last week, a ferry carrying more than 800 people ran aground in shallow waters off East Nusa Tenggara province and remained stuck for two days before being dislodged. No one was hurt.

In 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world’s deepest lakes on Sumatra island.

In one of the country’s worst recorded disasters, an overcrowded passenger ship sank in February 1999 with 332 people aboard. There were only 20 survivors.

(with inputs from agencies)