11 dead, 1 missing after boat capsizes in Indonesia
Jakarta, Apr 28 (EFE).- A boat carrying 74 people, including the crew, capsized in western Indonesia, leaving 11 people dead and 1 missing, officials told EFE on Friday.
Kukuh Widodo, spokesperson for the national rescue operations agency Basarnas, said that the vessel overturned on Thursday, in which 11 died while 62 were rescued.
He added that search operations were underway to locate the one missing person.
The boat Evelyn Calista was traveling from Tembilahan, east of Sumatra, to Tanjung Pinang, in the Riau Islands, but capsized 30 minutes after setting sail, according to Widodo.
The causes of the accident remain unknown.
Rescue teams took the help of fishing boats in the vicinity to transport the survivors to safety.
Maritime accidents are common in Indonesia due to precarious infrastructure, overloading passengers and goods, lax compliance with safety regulations and inclement weather.
Waterways are among the main means of transport in the Indonesian archipelago, made up of more than 17,000 islands and with a population of more than 270 million inhabitants.
In 2018, at least 160 people died when a ferry was shipwrecked on Lake Toba in Sumatra. EFE
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