Indonesia's ferries are often aging and overloaded. (Photo: AFP)

Officials to Investigate Riau Ferry Disaster

Indonesia transportation authorities are promising to investigate whether overloading played a role in a ferry disaster that claimed at least four lives on Sunday.

“The capacity of the ship was 273 and there is an indication it was over capacity. If it was, we will not tolerate that as they should have never played with people’s lives,” said Sunaryo, sea transport director general at the Transportation Ministry, at a press conference in Jakarta.

“We are going to check their documents to make sure that everything was based on proper procedure,” he added. “We are also checking whether the Meteorological agency issued a warning to the port masters.”

The Dumai Express 10 ferry was sailing from Batam to Dumai in Riau province on Sunday morning when it ran into rough seas, with waves of up to six meters.

Sunaryo said 292 people were rescued and the search for passengers was still going on as of late Sunday afternoon, with help from the police and military as well as the local transportation office.

A second ferry, the Dumai Express 15, was struck by high waves on Sunday and ran aground at Moro Island. All the passengers were safe, Sunaryo said.

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