At least four people have died and thirty are missing after a ferry carrying 65 people sank off the tourist island of Bali, in Indonesia.
Before midnight on Wednesday, at 23:20 local time, the boat sank 25 minutes after departing from the port of the coastal city of Banyuwangi, in East Java, the largest province in this vast archipelago of Southeast Asia composed of around 17,000 islands.
Rescue teams have reported that, at the moment, 31 people had been rescued and 30 were missing. The vessel was carrying 53 passengers and 12 crew members, along with 22 vehicles. Four of the survivors were saved using the boat's lifeboat.
No details have been provided yet on the possible cause of the sinking, but local officials have indicated that the accident was likely caused by bad weather. The ferry operator has reported that they had engine problems shortly before the shipwreck.
"Many of the survivors were initially unconscious after drifting in rough waters for several hours," explained Rama Samtama Putra, chief of police in Banyuwangi.
Throughout the night, facing the storm and waves up to two meters high in the darkness, rescue teams searched for the missing using nine boats, including two tugs and two inflatable boats.
The ferry from Java to Bali takes approximately an hour and is one of the busiest inter-island routes in Indonesia, mainly used by Java residents who cross with their cars to Bali, where many of them work in the tourism sector.
This incident once again highlights the frequent maritime accidents that occur in Indonesia. In June, a tourist boat carrying 89 passengers capsized off the coast of Bali when hit by a large wave. Footage captured by passengers showed tourists kicking the windows of the boat as they desperately tried to escape. Fortunately, everyone was evacuated.
Last March, an Australian tourist died after her boat, with 16 people on board, also capsized due to rough waves off Bali. In 2018, over 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in a lake on the island of Sumatra.