Search resumes for people missing after Indonesia ferry sinks

Aug 30, 2009, 3:48 GMT

   Jakarta - Rescue workers resumed their search for more than a dozen of people missing after an overcrowded ferry capsized off the Indonesian part of Borneo island, media reports said Sunday.

   The state-run Antara news agency said 12 bodies were rescued by late Saturday, leaving at least 12 others missing and feared dead.

   But Kompas daily cited a local rescue official as estimating that around 23 people were believed still missing in the accident. Some 116 others survived.

   Local rescue agency chief Gusti Syaiful Bahri said the number of missing persons could change because the exact number of people on board the wooden ship was not known.

   'We have got around 23 missing people was based on reports from a number of passengers who felt the family of their friends have not been founded yet,' Bahri was quoted as saying.

   The ship sank Friday night in South Kalimantan province moments after it left a harbour in Tapin district, where it had picked up additional passengers.

   The captain of the ship, who was among survivors, was detained for questioning, local police chief Rizqi Maulana was quoted as saying.

   Maulana said the ship was designed to carry 45 passengers.

On Wednesday nine people were killed when a small ferry sank in poor weather off Indonesia's resort island of Bali.