World

Nearly 200 Feared Dead After Indonesian Ferry Sinks

TRAGIC

Accident nation was celebrating Eid al-Fitr.

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Albert Damanik/Reuters

Indonesian authorities on Tuesday said 166 people are feared dead after a ferry sank late Monday at a lake on the island of Sumatra. Officials had earlier put the number of missing at 94. Hundreds of frantic relatives have rushed to the scene at Lake Toba to await word on the fate of their loved ones, though search and rescue efforts have been hampered by the boat’s lack of a passenger manifest. An official at Indonesia’s transportation ministry told Reuters the wooden ferry had a capacity of 60 passengers. One of the survivors, Widya, said in an interview with an Indonesian TV channel that she lost her entire family in the incident. “There were at least five couples with two children each. I wish I had died with my family, but I didn’t,” she told Metro TV. At least one death has been confirmed, while 18 people are said to have been rescued.

Read it at AP