The Daily Mail UK
written by Richard Shears
Wednesday December 21, 2011
- 150 on board the ferry when it sank with eight bodies now found
- At least 60 people are still missing
Rescue boats were searching last night for scores of people who are missing after a crowded ferry sank in Indonesian waters - the second major sea disaster in the region in less than a week.
At least 150 people were on board the ferry when it sank off the Maluku islands in eastern Indonesia.
At least eight bodies have been found and while dozens have been rescued more than 60 people are missing.
Mr Nus Sileti, a transport official, said the ship was crowded with people heading home for the Christmas holidays.
'It ran into a big storm, with waves that came in over the boat and it had no chance of staying upright,' he said.
Mr Sileti said the waves were more than 12ft high.
'We've pulled seven or eight bodies from the water and a large number have been rescued but there are around 60 passengers who are still missing,' he said.
It was the second major disaster off the Indonesian coast in four days.
Last Saturday a ship crowded with asylum seekers from Pakistan, Afghanistan Turkey and Iran, sank off Java island shortly after setting out on the perilous journey for Australia.
More than 200 people are thought to have died.
At least 20 survivors were found on an island 150 miles from the scene of the tragedy but yesterday (Wed) scores of bodies were found some 200 miles from the area in which the wooden boat sank.
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