A ferry sailing between the Indonesian islands of Java and Borneo ran into a storm on Sunday, leaving one person dead and prompting the rescue of more than 100 others, local search and rescue officials said.
Search and rescue chief I Putu Sudayana told reporters in the port city of Banjarmasin that teams had pulled 103 people from the vessel, though one of those rescued later died. He said crews had carried out search efforts “to the fullest extent” at the scene. The ferry had been en route to Banjarmasin, in South Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, when it was struck by bad weather and lost contact.
Rescue units were dispatched to the vessel’s last known position in the Java Sea after it became unreachable. Some reports on the incident put the total number aboard as high as 243, though official figures have not confirmed a final passenger count, and the fate of anyone beyond those already accounted for remains unclear as the search continues.
Indonesia, an archipelago of roughly 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries for inter-island travel, and maritime accidents — often linked to overcrowding, poor weather or aging vessels — occur with some regularity across the country’s waters. The incident is the latest in a string of ferry disasters in Indonesia this year.
