Indonesia rescuers searching for 29 missing people after ferry sinks near Bali

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GILIMANUK, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers were searching for 29 people who remained missing Thursday after a ferry sank and six people died the previous night near Indonesia’s resort island of Bali.

A 3-year-old boy and his mother were the most recent victims whose bodies were recovered on Thursday afternoon. The six bodies located by rescuers will be taken to their families in Banyuwangi, officials said.

As of Thursday, 30 people had been rescued from the ferry’s 53 passengers and 12 crew members, Mohammad Syafii, head of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, told Metro TV.

The KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya sank almost half an hour after leaving Ketapang port in the East Java town of Banyuwangi late Wednesday for a trip of about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) to Bali’s Gilimanuk port, authorities said.

A helicopter and 15 boats searched for survivors with assistance from fishermen and people onshore. The overnight search operation focused on the northern part of a travel lane for ships, but the water current changed from midnight to morning and many victims were found in the southern area, Syafii said.

“The condition of this ship is fully submerged, so there is a possibility that there are people inside the ferry. But right now we are focusing on the surface of the water first,” Surabaya Search and Rescue head Nanang Sigit said.

Weather was a significant factor in the search effort. Strong waves up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) high and darkness hampered emergency responders overnight. While conditions improved Thursday morning, Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency indicated waves reached up to 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) with strong currents and winds Thursday afternoon.

“For today’s search we are focusing on searching on the water, as the initial victims were found in the water between the location of the accident toward Gilimanuk port,” Sigit said in a statement Thursday morning.

An officer at the port witnessed the sinking before rescuers could be alerted.

“The ferry could not be contacted via radio from the beginning. Then it could be contacted by other ships from the same company. But the ship was already in a tilting condition,” Sigit said.

Many of those rescued were unconscious after drifting in choppy waters for hours, Banyuwangi Police Chief Rama Samtama Putra said.

Survivors were treated at Bali’s Jembrana Regional Hospital and the port office in Gilimanuk. Some family members arrived at the port in a panic or weeping as they sought information about their loved ones.

Indonesian authorities are investigating the cause of the accident. Survivors told rescuers there appeared to be a leak in the engine room of the ferry, which was carrying 22 vehicles including 14 trucks.

“When the ferry started to tilt, I initially intended to jump into the sea, but the ship quickly sank, so I did not jump any more but sank with the water entering the ship, maybe about 7 meters (23 feet) deep, so I immediately climbed up to the top,” said Supardi, 64, a survivor at the hospital.

He and three other people grouped together in the water and used life jackets to say afloat, he 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.

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Tarigan and Karmini reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.