100 passengers survive ferry accident off Central Sulawesi

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A ferry carrying around 100 people ran aground on a coral reef off Central Sulawesi province, but all the passengers aboard survived the crash, an official said on Friday.

Kismanto, acting head of the Luwuk seaport in Banggai regency, said the accident occurred at around 3 a.m. on Thursday, about three hours after the 50-ton vessel left the port for the town of Salakan on Peleng island.

The ill-fated KM Tanjung Raya, traveling in Peleng Strait off Central Sulawesi, hit a coral reef as it arrived at a beach near Nipah village in Lamala subdistrict, he told Antara.

The passengers on board the ship and the crew members managed to escape without injury, Kismanto added.

Many of the panicked passengers jumped overboard and swam to Nipah beach, around 1.5 kilometers from the scene, the news agency reported.

Usman Yabi, one of the survivors, told Antara that he escaped the crash after he and dozens of other passengers decided to wait for the vessel, after the engine had died, to become unstuck, after which it sailed to the beach.

Kismanto said he received information on the accident from the Lamala subdistrict head, who reported no casualties or injuries.

"But we are still verifying the report in the field because there is a possibility that several people may not have been included on the passenger list aboard the ferry and may have drowned," he added.

The cause of the accident was not clear.

Boating accidents, involving ferries and cargo ships, are common throughout the archipelago, where a lot of traveling is done by boat and safety precautions are often ignored.

Dozens of incidents in recent years have killed hundreds of passengers.