Death Toll in Indonesia Ferry Accident Rises to 31 Passengers

VOA News
Last Updated: 4 July 2018 (4:06AM)

Indonesia disaster officials now say 31 people have been confirmed dead after a ferry ran aground off the island of Sulawesi.

The ferry was carrying about 140 people Tuesday afternoon when it was hit by rough weather and began taking on water. The captain steered the vessel onto a reef about 300 meters from shore in an effort to save lives. Television footage showed passengers desperately hanging on to the ferry as it listed in the waters, or floating in the rough seas wearing life jackets.

Nearly 70 passengers have been rescued from the wreckage, while another 41 passengers remain missing.

Tuesday's accident occurred on the same day that authorities called off the search for more than 160 passengers believed to be trapped inside the wreckage of a ferry that sunk last month in a popular lake on Sumatra island.

Ferry sinkings are a common tragedy in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands in the Indian Ocean, due to weak enforcement of safety regulations.