At least six people have died and 129 remain missing after an Indonesian passenger ferry capsized in the Java Sea during bad weather, the country’s search and rescue agency said.
Rescuers have recovered 108 people from the Virgo Transport 8 and are continuing to search for survivors. The vessel had been travelling towards Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan when it lost contact with authorities.
Passenger Rinto Arahab said he clung to the ship’s railings as it overturned before climbing to a higher point on the stricken vessel.
“I felt resigned,” he said in Banjarmasin. “I could only pray for my safety.”
Families gathered in the city as they waited for information about those on board. One woman, who gave her name as Putri, said she had been speaking to her husband Herman before the phone connection was lost.
“Then after that there was no more contact, we couldn’t reach him,” she said.
The ferry left Surabaya in East Java on Saturday carrying 243 people, including 30 crew members. A passing helicopter reported that the ship had capsized, transport minister Dudy Purwagandhi said, while the cause was still under investigation.
The search and rescue agency had earlier said the vessel had sunk. Rescued passengers were taken aboard other ships, with some expected to be transported to a port in East Java, according to I Putu Sudayana, head of the agency’s Banjarmasin office.
The 119-metre Virgo Transport 8 was built in Japan in 1987 and operated there until last year, when it was sold to Indonesian operator PT Virgo Karya Shipping.
