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The National Police’s Water Police Unit on Monday resumed searching for those still missing after a ferry sank on Sunday off the east coast of Sumatra. The search was halted on Sunday because of high waves and bad weather.

People are “able to survive for around three days at sea so we’ll keep on looking as long as the weather is clear,” said Gagah Prakoso, a spokesman for the Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency.

The 147-ton Dumai Express 10 was sailing from Batam to Dumai, both in Riau Islands province, when it went down in high seas off Karimun Island around 9:30 a.m.

On Sunday, Rustam Pakaya, head of the Ministry of Health’s Crisis Center, said 29 passengers were confirmed dead, 245 were rescued, and 17 were missing.

Five victims who were badly wounded had been taken to Tanjung Balai Karimun General Hospital. The search and rescue team predicted that there were still victims in the ferry, which sank to 32 meters below the surface.

The survivors, numbering 245 passengers, were still taking shelter at the house of the Karimun district head. Most were suffering from trauma.

Meanwhile, Metro TV reported the families of passengers were coming to the office of the Dumai Express Company on Monday to try and find out information about the fate of their relatives, especially those whose names were not on either the list of survivors or casualties.

Dumai Harbour authorities put pictures of the casualties on the office wall. They hoped the pictures would make it easier for the families to identify their relatives.


JG, Bloomberg