166 people missing in Indonesia ferry tragedy

Survivors and family members react as they meet each other at the Lake Toba ferry port in the province of North Sumatra on June 19, 2018, after a boat capsized on June 18. Photo: AFP

Tigaras Port (Indonesia): Indonesian officials say 166 people are missing from a ferry sinking at a popular lake on Sumatra, a much higher number than previously believed.

The boat didn't have a passenger manifest and disaster officials have several times raised the number of people it was carrying as distraught relatives who rushed to Lake Toba in northern Sumatra provided information.

Yesterday, officials said 94 people were missing and expected the number to rise.

Only 18 people were rescued and one death confirmed in the immediate response to the tragedy on Monday evening.

An Associated Press reporter on Wednesday morning saw rescuers transferring a body to an ambulance onshore. Grief-stricken relatives urged officials to speed up the search effort.

Last week, 16 people died when another boat sank near the southern coast of Celebes island in the central region of the archipelago.

Indonesia records more accidents during the holiday period following the month of Ramadan, when millions of people travel around the country putting pressure on the precarious infrastructure.

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