At least four people have died and dozens remain missing after a ferry carrying 65 individuals capsized en route to the Indonesian island of Bali, authorities reported.
The incident occurred before midnight on Wednesday in the Bali Strait as the vessel traveled toward a port in the northern part of the island, having departed from Banyuwangi, a town on Java, Indonesia’s most populous island, according to a statement from the local search and rescue team in Surabaya.
Banyuwangi police chief Rama Samtama Putra confirmed four fatalities and 23 rescues. The ferry carried 53 passengers, 12 crew members, and 22 vehicles, the agency added.
“KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya… sank approximately 25 minutes after departing,” officials stated. While the initial report did not specify a cause, cabinet secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya later attributed the accident to severe weather.
President Prabowo Subianto, who was in Saudi Arabia at the time, instructed authorities to mobilize emergency measures immediately, Teddy announced.
Many survivors were unconscious after spending hours adrift in turbulent waters, Rama noted.
Overnight, nine boats—including two tugboats and two inflatable vessels—conducted searches amid waves as high as 2 meters in challenging conditions.
Four survivors managed to reach safety using the ferry’s lifeboat and were discovered early Thursday, rescue teams said.
The ferry route between Java and Bali, typically a one-hour trip, is frequently used by travelers with vehicles. It remains uncertain whether any foreigners were aboard during the incident.
In Indonesia, discrepancies between official passenger lists and actual numbers are not uncommon, raising concerns that more individuals may be missing.
Maritime accidents occur regularly in Indonesia, an archipelago of roughly 17,000 islands, often due to insufficient safety measures or adverse weather conditions.
In March, a boat with 16 people overturned near Bali, resulting in the death of an Australian woman and injuring at least one other. In 2018, over 150 people died when a ferry sank in a deep lake on Sumatra.
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