KENDARI, Indonesia: At least 15 people were killed and 19 more were missing on Monday after a ferry sank off the coast of Indonesia\u2019s Sulawesi island, search and rescue officials said.
\nThe boat sank with 40 people onboard just after midnight local time (1700 GMT on Sunday), the local office of Indonesia\u2019s search and rescue agency said in a statement.
\nSix people were rescued and taken to hospital for treatment, and the cause of the sinking was being investigated, it said.
\n\u201cProvisionally, there are 19 people who are still being searched for,\u201d Muhamad Arafah, head of the local search and rescue agency in Kendari city in southeast Sulawesi, said in the statement.
\nOne search team will dive around the accident site, while another will search the water\u2019s surface using boats, he said.
\nThe ferry was crossing from Lanto village on Buton island to Lagili village on Muna island in Southeast Sulawesi, the agency said.
\nIt shared images of rescuers mobilizing for the search effort, and several dead bodies covered by sarongs laid on tarpaulin at a local hospital.
\nIt is common in Indonesia for the number of actual passengers on a boat to differ from the manifest.
\nMarine accidents occur frequently in the Southeast Asian archipelago nation of around 17,000 islands, where people rely on ferries and small boats to travel around despite poor safety standards.
\nIn 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world\u2019s deepest lakes on Sumatra island.
\nIn May last year, a ferry carrying more than 800 people ran aground in shallow waters off East Nusa Tenggara province and remained stuck for two days before being dislodged.
\nNo one was hurt in that accident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KENDARI, Indonesia: At least 15 people were killed and 19 more were missing on Monday after a ferry sank off the coast of Indonesia\u2019s Sulawesi island, search and rescue officials said. The boat sank with 40 people onboard just after midnight local time (1700 GMT on Sunday), the local office of Indonesia\u2019s search and rescue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345084,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-345072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n