102 passengers rescued from ship carrying 243 passengers missing in Indonesia
A total of 103 missing passengers have been rescued so far. Photo: Reuters
A rescue operation is underway after a passenger ship carrying 243 people went missing in the Java Sea in Indonesia. Officials continued the operation despite adverse weather conditions on Sunday morning.
According to a Reuters report, 103 people have so far been rescued from the missing vessel. One of those rescued has died. As a result, 102 passengers have been confirmed alive, an official from the rescue agency said.
The missing vessel is named Virgo Transport 8. It departed from Surabaya in East Java on Saturday for Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. However, the vessel encountered severe weather and lost contact early Sunday while en route.
I Putu Sudayana, head of the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Agency, said in a video message that 103 people had been rescued so far with the help of other vessels. Some of them are being taken to a port in East Java for medical treatment.
Officials said the exact location of the vessel and the main cause of the accident are still unknown. However, rescuers have sent a team, several vessels and a helicopter to the vessel's last known location.
In Indonesia, a country of 17,000 islands, ferries and passenger ships are highly popular and reliable means of transportation. People use them widely because sea travel is cheaper and more accessible than air travel.
Earlier, on September 10, another Southeast Asian archipelagic country, the Philippines, witnessed a devastating accident at sea.
A passenger ferry named MV June Aster was traveling from the capital Manila to the tourist destination of Coron when a fire suddenly broke out with a loud explosion in the middle of the sea. The bodies of at least around 35 people have been recovered.
Source: Reuters (Adapted)
