INDONESIA: Hundreds still missing after Indonesia ferry sinking
- 00:00:42
- ITN Source
INDONESIA: Hundreds still missing after Indonesia ferry sinking
More than 100 survivors have been recovered after a ferry capsized off Indonesia's Java island, but hundreds were still missing on Sunday (December 31) as rescue efforts resumed. Survivors told harrowing stories of the ship's frightening last moments and struggles to put on lifejackets and get into lifeboats. The Senopati Nusantara, which sank around midnight on Friday (December 29), carried 628 people including 57 crew according to the manifest, Riyadi, Search and Rescue (SAR) operational chief in Semarang, Central Java, told Reuters by telephone. Many survivors were taken for medical care to the Central Java coastal city of Rembang. One survivor there told Reuters the ship started to roll over after struggling in high seas and heavy rains. About 40 survivors were treated for minor injuries at a Rembang hospital before shifting to a temporary shelter to wait for relatives or find their own way home. The sinking of the Senopati Nusantara was the second Indonesian ferry disaster in as many days after a vessel overturned on Thursday night (December 28) in rough seas off Sumatra. Heavy seas and bad weather hampered initial rescue attempts in both cases. Transportation Minister Hatta Rajasa has said the Senopati Nusantara was on fire before it sank. "The huge waves and storm caused the ship to burn," he told the BBC Indonesian service late on Saturday. He said the Japanese-made 2,178-tonne ship was seaworthy and had a capacity of more than 850 passengers, but a survivor said massive waves had battered the ship, scattering furniture in every direction. The ship was travelling from Kalimantan on Borneo to Semarang in Central Java. Ships and ferries are a popular means of transport among Indonesia's 17,000 islands, where sea connections are cheaper and more available than air routes. However, safety standards are not always enforced, and accidents occur fairly often. Rescue efforts were continuing for passengers from the ferry that capsized off Sumatra on Thursday. The South Sumatra police say that of the 51 passengers, only four bodies have been found and 28 people have been secured.
ITN Source | December 31, 2006
