JAKARTA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- A total of 182
passengers went missing as their motorboat sank in Parepare waters of
Indonesia's South Sulawesi province at 4 a.m. on Sunday when it was sailing from
the Parepare port to Balikpapan.
The boat, named KM Teratai, left the Parpare port at
4 p.m. on Saturday but sank in Parepare waters due to huge waves on Sunday, the
Antara news agency quoted a rescue coordinator as saying.
Coordinator of the rescue and search team from the
University of Hasanuddin, Salman said in Makassar, capital of South Sulawesi
province, on Sunday, that the ill-fated Teratai carried 200 passengers, 18 of
whom had been rescued by local fishermen, and 182 still missing.
"Three of the 18 passengers brought to the coast were
rescued by Nur Salim, one of the fishermen from Majene," Salman said.
KM Teratai left the Parepare port in South Sulawesi
for Balikpapan at about 16:00 local time on Saturday. KM Teratai had 200
passengers on board. But earlier reports said there were 300 passengers on the
boat.
"Because of heavy rain and high waves, the captain
could not control the vessel which then sank after being battered by big waves
on its way to Balikpapan," Salman said.
JAKARTA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The bad weather hampered
the rescuers' efforts to help ferry disaster survivors near Majene, West
Sulawesi in Indonesia, an official was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.
Ilham, a spokesperson for the Majene port authority,
said a rescue boat from the Parepare Port in South Sulawesi was unable to reach
the approximate area where the ferry was believed to have gone down. Full story
