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Three people die , 39 rescued so far in Indonesia ferry incident

Sunday, 20 December 2015 6:45 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 20 December 2015 10:48 AM ]

This handout photo from the Indonesian Police taken in Surabaya, East Java on November 16, 2015 shows passengers evacuating a capsized ship. (AFP photo)

Three people have so far lost their lives in a ferry accident in central Indonesia, with authorities saying that so far about 40 passengers have been rescued.

The passenger ship was transporting 118 people when it was overwhelmed by high waves during stormy weather on Saturday, said Indonesia’s Transport Ministry spokesman, J.A. Barata, on Sunday.

The boat was on its way from Kolaka to Siwa, two towns on Indonesia’s eastern island of Sulawesi.

Earlier on Sunday, fishermen found four people, including a woman and a child wearing life jackets, who told authorities that their boat had sunk hours after being hit by high waves.

According to Indonesia's transportation Ministry spokesman, Julius Barata, 35 other survivors and three dead were discovered later.

Following the incident, six rescue vessels were dispatched to the site of the sinking about 21 kilometers (13 miles) southeast of Siwa, said Roki Asikin, the head of the search and rescue agency in Makassar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, adding that 14 children were among the passengers.

Asikin said it took three hours to evacuate the survivors to the shore due to powerful waves. “These waves were very high,” he said.

Earlier efforts to find the vessel were hindered by rough conditions, after the crew sent a distress call Saturday afternoon reporting an accident. Contact was lost with the ferry shortly thereafter.

Indonesia has seen a number of boat disasters over the past several years, which have killed hundreds of people as ships are often full to the brim while safety regulations are poorly implemented.

Having more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia is heavily dependent on ferry services as a relatively cheap form of transportation.

Earlier this month, a Danish cargo ship collided with a tanker and sank in western Indonesia.

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