Four people are dead and 38 are missing after a ferry carrying 65 passengers sank near the resort island of Bali, according to Indonesian officials.
Rescuers continued searching on Thursday in rough seas for the missing passengers and crew.
The KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya sank almost half an hour after leaving East Java’s Ketapang port late on Wednesday, the National Search and Rescue Agency said in a statement.
It was bound for Bali’s Gilimanuk port, a 50-kilometre trip.
The ferry carried 53 passengers, 12 crew members and 22 vehicles, including 14 trucks, it said.
Four bodies have been recovered and 23 people were rescued, many of them unconscious after drifting in choppy waters for hours, said Banyuwangi Police Chief Rama Samtama Putra.
There has been no official statement on the nationalities of the passengers, but a manifest list broadcast by news channel MetroTV indicated there were no foreigners on board.
Nine boats, including two tug boats and two inflatable boats, have been searching for the missing people since Wednesday night, battling waves up to 2 metres high in the overnight darkness.
Four of the known survivors saved themselves by using the ferry’s lifeboat and were found in the water early on Thursday, the local search and rescue agency in Surabaya said.
Ferry tragedies are common in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, where ferries are often used as transport and safety regulations can lapse.
A small ferry capsized in 2023 near Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 15 people.
AP/AFP/Reuters
Rescuers search for 38 people after Bali ferry sinking leaves at least four dead
