Number missing after Indonesia ferry sinking raised to nearly 180
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Some 178 people are missing from a ferry sinking on Monday at a popular lake on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, a much higher number than previously believed. The wooden vessel, overcrowded with passengers and motorbikes, did not have a manifest and disasteNumber missing after Indonesia ferry sinking raised to nearly 180
Some 178 people are missing from a ferry sinking on Monday at a popular lake on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, a much higher number than previously believed. The wooden vessel, overcrowded with passengers and motorbikes, did not have a manifest and disaster officials have several times raised the number of people it was carrying as family members who rushed to Lake Toba in northern Sumatra provided information. Only 18 survivors have been found - in bad weather within hours of the sinking on Monday evening. It is possible many of the victims were still inside the sunken ferry, said North Sumatra province police chief Paulus Waterpau. «Many survivors told authorities that less than half of them had jumped into the water before the boat sank,» he said. Suwarni, whose 20-year-old son and his girlfriend were on the ferry, criticised the search and rescue operation as slow and insufficient. «Millions of questions keep me from sleeping,» she said. «What kind of government is this which can't protect their own people from unnecessary accidents? And after the accident they're not able to find the victims.» "I beg help to everyone to quickly find my son and his girlfriend, even if... Read more