Photo credit: Korea Times
Rescuers in Indonesia said at least six people were killed and 129 others were missing after a ferry capsized in rough seas on Sunday, with one survivor recounting scenes of panic as passengers scrambled for life jackets.
Manilla Standard reports that the Virgo Transport 8 – which authorities said carried 213 passengers and 30 crew – lost contact with its shipping company early Sunday after departing from Surabaya in ast Java.
Basarmas, Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency, said six people were killed and 129 others were missing.
Another 108 people were rescued.
“People were panicking. Some climbed onto tables, some were pushing each other,” survivor Rinto Arahap, told AP.
The first rescue ship carrying survivors arrived before nightfall at a pier in Benjarmasin, on the southern coast of Borneo island, an AFP reporter saw.
Some of the survivors were carried on stretchers into waiting ambulances. Others were put into wheelchairs or needed help walking.
Indonesia Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said the ship had capsized.
On Monday, a speedboat carrying eight people, including five journalists working for local and international news agencies, went missing near a volcano, Mount Anak Krakatau, in Banten province. That search is still ongoing.
