Ferry with more than 200 people sinks in Indonesia (1st Lead)

Nov 22, 2009, 8:43 GMT

Jakarta - A ferry with 240 people on board sank in bad weather off the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Sunday, killing at least one person, police and media reports said.

Search teams are looking for survivors from the Dumai Express 10, which was sailing from Batam near Singapore to the island of Dumai in Riau, Sumatra when it was battered by heavy waves.

Riau police chief Puji Hartanto told MetroTv that survivors were spotted floating in the water.

VivaNews online news portal quoted Riau marine police officer Yassin Kosasih as saying that the ferry was carrying a total of 240 people, including 15 children and 12 crew members.

One child was reported to have died, but as many as 179 people survived, leaving around 60 unaccounted for, Kosasih said, adding that patrol boats, a navy vessel and fishing boats were searching for those missing.

Bad weather and high waves were hampered the search operation, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

Another ferry, the Dumai Express 15, with 278 people aboard, ran aground after it was hit by large waves, Kosasih said.

He said all passengers and crew survived that accident. The ferry was traveling between Batam and Moro island.

Indonesian ferry accidents have killed hundreds of people in recent years. Ferries are often overcrowded and safety regulations are poorly enforced. The vast country spans more than 17,000 islands and boats are a popular and relatively cheap form of transportation.