Four people killed in Kendari boat accident

Hasrul, The Jakarta Post, Kendari

Four people were killed after a boat, Tangko Mbuno, sank in Wawonii waters, Konawe regency in the province of Southeast Sulawesi at dawn on Monday. The four victims were passengers Rumani, 50, Waadi, 9 and Hadiati, 18, as well as a one-year-old infant.

Chief of Kendari Search and Rescue Team, Rocky Ashikin, said on Tuesday that another 56 passengers had been rescued although some were still being treated at local hospitals.

The boat departed on Sunday noon from Larianta subdistrict, but on its way to Labeau subdistrict, some 16 kilometers from Larianta subdistrict, the boat sank. Most of passengers in the boat were Larianta residents who were on their way to a soccer match in the neighboring subdistrict of Labeau.

Jumhar, an eyewitness, recalled that the boat was caught in bad weather. When it was cruising through the water, suddenly a a three-meter-high wave hit the boat, tilting it, causing it to capsize and slowly sink.

"When the boat was sinking, the passengers jumped out of the boat while others scrambled to get out of the sinking boat and swam ashore," he said.

The boat accident was the second this month. On July 3, the Diana Express also sank in the area, but all 12 crew members were rescued by the search and rescue team.

Separately, AFP reported that foul weather has hindered efforts to salvage a ferry that sank off the eastern Indonesian province of Papua last week with as many as 200 people believed to be trapped inside, a rescue official said on Tuesday.

"We are continuing efforts to overturn the ship today (Monday) as bad weather had hindered our efforts," said Sumpeno Juwono, a search and rescue official from Merauke district.

He said that a fishing boat found one body near the site of the accident on Monday, the only victim discovered so far. Fifteen people, including two crew members, were rescued.

The state-run Digul ferry, linking Merauke in the southeastern part of Papua to Tanah Merah further inland, was engulfed by waves on Thursday.

The vessel's manifest showed 35 passengers and a crew of 13 when the ship left the port of Merauke some 3,740 kilometers (2,380 miles) east of Jakarta, but survivors said the number on board was between 100 and 200.

Rescue teams and local authorities believe most of the passengers may have been trapped inside the boat, and Juwono on Monday said there was little hope of finding more survivors.

The wreck was found overturned around 15 metres underwater some 15 nautical miles off the coast.

Four vessels have been in the area since Monday to take part in the operation to overturn the wreck and search for bodies.

The ferry was transporting two bulldozers and hundreds of sacks of cement as well as the passengers. The manifest showed that some of the passengers were schoolchildren.

Indonesia is one of the world's largest archipelagoes and relies heavily on marine and river transportation, especially in the less developed islands in eastern Indonesia.

Ferry accidents are common because of weak safety enforcement measures and frequent overcrowding on vessels due to the lack of other transportation to some remote regions.