At least 15 dead and 19 missing after a ferry sank in Indonesia

Indonesian authorities are searching for missing passengers on Monday after a ferry sank off the island of Sulawesi, killing 15, the National Search and Rescue Agency said.
people at least.

The agency said in a statement that of the 40 passengers on board, 19 are still missing, while six survived. It is not yet clear what caused the sinking, which occurred around midnight.

“All the victims have been identified and handed over to their families while the survivors are now being treated in local hospitals,” said Mohamed Arafa of the local branch of the search and rescue agency.

Pictures released by the rescue agency showed the bodies of the victims covered in pieces of cloth on the floor of the local hospital.

The ferry was ferrying people across a bay on Mona Island, about 200 km south of Kendari, the capital of Southeast Sulawesi province.

Ferries are a common mode of transport in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, and accidents are common because lax safety standards often allow ships to be overloaded without adequate life-saving equipment.