JAVA, July 4 — At least 29 people died after a ferry sank near Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, officials said today, as rescue teams searched for dozens of missing passengers a day after the country’s latest ferry disaster.

Yesterday’s sinking came a few weeks after an overcrowded ferry sank on Lake Toba, one of the world’s deepest volcanic lakes, claiming more than 200 lives.

The regional disaster mitigation agency said 29 people were confirmed dead in yesterday’s accident and 41 remained missing.

Another 69 passengers had been rescued.

The ferry, KM Lestari Maju, was carrying an unknown number of vehicles when it began to fill with water and sink. The vessel was close to shore and the captain ran it onto a reef in a bid to help the rescue effort, a transport ministry official told Reuters.

Television images yesterday showed dozens of passengers hanging on to the keeling vessel or bobbing in the water wearing life jackets.

Indonesia suffers frequent boat sinkings, with basic safety rules often flouted and vessels overloaded.

After last month’s sinking, one of the deadliest in nearly a decade, a two-week search and rescue effort located the vessel at a depth of 450m with victims trapped inside, but technical and logistical challenges forced the recovery to be called off. — Reuters</s>Grieving relatives prayed and cast flower petals into the volcanic lake where a ferry sank last month in one of Indonesia’s worst maritime accidents, as the search for more than 160 missing passengers was called off Tuesday.

The vessel was believed to be operating illegally with no manifest and not enough life jackets when it disappeared into the depths of Lake Toba, a picturesque tourist spot in Sumatra.

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Just three passengers have been confirmed dead, with 21 survivors. There are 164 others — including children — listed as missing.

Some people lost whole families when the doomed vessel went down and hundreds of mourners have spent the past two weeks keeping vigil by the shore.

On Tuesday, tearful relatives gathered to lay wreaths and attend a groundbreaking ceremony for a new memorial as the search was wrapped up.

Others prayed or boarded rescue boats to toss petals into the crater lake, but the decision to end the search was painful for many.

“We lost our two very dear children — both have left us,” Soleh, who uses only one name, said after laying a stone in memory of his kids at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Authorities have pinpointed the boat at some 420 metres (1,475 feet) below the surface of the lake by using remotely operated underwater vehicles.

But Toba’s vast depths pose a massive challenge to rescuers who do not have the necessary equipment to recover the boat or the many bodies thought to be trapped inside.

“Even if it was possible, it would take a very long time with high risks,” said Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for maritime affairs.

Officials met with the families to explain that the search was going to be called off.

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Lake Toba, which fills the crater of a supervolcano that exploded in a massive eruption tens of thousands of years ago, is one of the world’s deepest lakes, plunging to around 500 metres in places.

The traditional wooden boat could have been carrying five times the number of passengers it was built to hold, along with dozens of motorcycles, officials have said.

Five suspects have been named, including the boat’s captain, as well as local port and transportation officials.

In a separate incident Tuesday, at least a dozen people died in a ferry accident off the coast of Indonesia near Sulawesi island.

Maritime accidents are common in Indonesia, where many people depend on boats to get around the 17,000 island archipelago nation. /vvp

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MOST READ</s>Relatives of missing passengers of a ferry that sank cry while throwing flowers into Lake Toba in Simalungun, North Sumatra, Indonesia.

JAKARTA - Indonesia said on Monday it was calling off a two-week operation to retrieve the bodies of nearly 200 passengers thought to have drowned in one of the world's deepest volcanic lakes.

The overcrowded wooden ferry capsized during a storm on June 18 in Lake Toba, which is around 450 meters (1,500 feet) deep, as travellers were heading home after the Eid holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting season.

Eighteen passengers survived, three were confirmed dead and nearly 200 are missing.

The operation to find the ferry and retrieve the victims has faced numerous technical and logistical hurdles - dangerous currents and cold, murky water far deeper than any scuba diver can go - in a lake that has never been completely surveyed.

Video footage taken last week using a remotely operated underwater vehicle showed human remains, motorcycles and ropes from the ferry at a depth of 450 meters.

Rescue spokesman Muhammad Yusuf Latif confirmed that the search operation would end, adding that an official statement would likely be made on Tuesday.

"We've already had face-to-face discussions with the families of the victims (on) the difficulties faced in the field (and) reasons why we won't continue; why we want to end it," Latif said by telephone.

"They understand why we're stopping."

According to Muhammad Ilyas, head of the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, the wreckage was found on Saturday, but the remotely operated underwater vehicle used to find it had also become stuck in ropes connected to the ferry.

"We have proven 100 per cent" that the ferry is there, Ilyas said, adding that the submersible was later retrieved but needed to be repaired as its cable had broken.

Rescuers earlier said they were considering borrowing a heavier vehicle from Singapore to retrieve the victims and the vessel, but that plan was cancelled as it would take more than three weeks and was "high cost", Latif said.

Craig Chesner, a geologist from Eastern Illinois University who conducted a survey of Toba in 2012, said the ferry had sunk "in the deepest part of the entire lake".

According to media reports, a monument will be erected by the government in memory of victims.

Also read: Indonesia names captain, 3 officials as suspects in deadly ferry disaster</s>Indonesia has ended a search of one of the world’s deepest lakes for the bodies of dozens of victims of a ferry sinking two weeks ago.

Indonesia has ended a search of one of the world’s deepest lakes for the bodies of dozens of victims of a ferry sinking two weeks ago.

The day, dreaded by families of the missing, was marked with prayers and a groundbreaking ceremony for a monument that will be inscribed with the names of victims.

The wooden ferry, five times above its passenger limit and also carrying dozens of motorcycles, sank in the volcanic crater lake on Sumatra in rough weather on June 18.

The full scale of the tragedy took days to unfold as the boat did not have a passenger manifest.

Officials at one point said more than 190 people were missing.

Their official toll on Tuesday was 21 survivors, including the boat’s captain, three bodies found and 164 people missing, presumed drowned.

Sonar has pinpointed the ferry at a depth of 450 metres (1,476 feet).

A remotely operated underwater vehicle last week captured images of bodies and motorcycles on the lake bed.

But Indonesia lacks the sophisticated equipment needed to seriously attempt a salvage effort.

Officials had said many bodies were likely inside the boat.

“To lift from a depth of 450 metres at the bottom of the lake is not an easy task because it requires advanced technology which we do not have,” Indonesia’s maritime minister, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, told reporters.

“Even if it can be done, it will take time and involve huge risks.”

The head of North Sumatra province’s Search and Rescue agency, Budiawan, who uses one name, said the decision to call off the search was made after “intense” discussions with the families of victims.

“After all this ended, we’ll all go home even though we are disappointed,” said Murni Sihombing, a grieving relative.

“We had hoped that there would be help from the international community.”

Police in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province, said they were finalising criminal charges against five people, including the captain, and four transport officials.

“They knew the capacity of the ferry Sinar Bangun was only about 40,” North Sumatra police chief Paulus Waterpau said on Monday.

“Moreover, as a wooden boat, it should not have been allowed to carry motorcycles.”

Ferry tragedies are common in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, with weak enforcement of safety regulations often to blame.

On Tuesday, at least 12 people were killed and a frantic rescue operation was under way off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi for dozens of passengers of a sinking passenger ferry run aground by its captain in a desperate bid to save lives.

The Lake Toba sinking was the worst in about a decade.</s>Retrieval of bodies from sunken Indonesian ferry called off

SIMALUNGUN, Indonesia: The retrieval of scores of bodies from an Indonesian ferry that sunk into the depths of one of the world’s deepest lakes is being called off, a rescue official said on Monday.

The vessel was believed to be operating illegally with no manifest and an insufficient number of life jackets when it went down nearly two weeks ago on Lake Toba, a picturesque tourist destination in Sumatra.

Authorities have said they pinpointed the boat by using remotely operated underwater vehicles at some 420 metres below the surface of the lake.

But the lake’s vast depths posed a massive challenge to rescuers trying to recover the boat and more than 160 missing passengers.

Hundreds of people -- relatives and friends of the victims -- have kept a vigil by the shore as they waited for news about their loved ones.

Officials met with the families to explain that the search was going to be officially called off on Tuesday.

"Most of the victims’ relatives agreed but some others asked that the search be extended," Riadil Lubis, head of the North Sumatra disaster agency, told AFP.

Grainy video and photo footage from the underwater vehicles showed several bodies and motorcycles, which the boat had been carrying, on the lake bed.

Just three passengers had earlier been confirmed dead in the accident, with 21 survivors.

Official estimates list 164 others -- including children -- as missing.

They are presumed dead, with many bodies thought to be trapped inside the sunken ferry.

Lake Toba, which fills the crater of a supervolcano that exploded in a massive eruption tens of thousands of years ago, is one of the world’s deepest lakes, plunging to around 500 metres in places.

The traditional wooden boat could have been carrying five times the number of passengers it was built to hold, along with dozens of motorcycles, officials have said.

Five suspects have been named, including the boat’s captain, as well as local port and transportation officials.</s>Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

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JAKARTA: Indonesia said yesterday it was calling off a two-week operation to retrieve the bodies of nearly 200 passengers thought to have drowned in one of the world’s deepest volcanic lakes.

The overcrowded wooden ferry capsized during a storm on June 18 in Lake Toba, which is around 450 metres deep, as travellers were heading home after the Eid holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting season.

Eighteen passengers survived, three were confirmed dead and nearly 200 are missing.

The operation to find the ferry and retrieve the victims has faced numerous technical and logistical hurdles – dangerous currents and cold, murky water far deeper than any scuba diver can go – in a lake that has never been completely surveyed.

Video footage taken last week using a remotely operated underwater vehicle showed human remains, motorcycles and ropes from the ferry at a depth of 450 metres.

Rescue spokesman Muhammad Yusuf Latif confirmed that the search operation would end.

“We’ve already had face-to-face discussions with the families of the victims (on) the difficulties faced in the field (and) reasons why we won’t continue; why we want to end it,” Latif said by telephone.

According to Muhammad Ilyas, head of the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, the wreckage was found on Saturday, but the remotely operated underwater vehicle used to find it had also become stuck in ropes connected to the ferry.

“We have proven 100 per cent” that the ferry is there, Ilyas said, adding that the submersible was later retrieved but needed to be repaired as its cable had broken.

Rescuers earlier said they were considering borrowing a heavier vehicle from Singapore to retrieve the victims and the vessel, but that plan was cancelled as it would take more than three weeks and was “high cost”, Latif said.

Craig Chesner, a geologist from Eastern Illinois University who conducted a survey of Toba in 2012, said the ferry had sunk “in the deepest part of the entire lake”. — Reuters</s>Indonesia has ended searching one of the world's deepest lakes for the bodies of dozens of victims after a ferry capsized in rough weather two weeks ago.

Search and rescue officials say after "intense" discussions with victims' families the end of the search was being marked on Tuesday with prayers and the scattering of flowers on Lake Toba.

The overcrowded wooden ferry sank in the volcanic crater lake on June 18.

The full scale of the tragedy took days to unfold as the boat didn't have a passenger manifest.

Officials at one point said more than 190 people were missing.

The official toll on Tuesday was 21 survivors, 3 bodies found and 164 people missing, presumed drowned.</s>MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say the bodies of a man and his nephew have been recovered from a North Carolina lake several days after thy disappeared while on a boating trip.

News outlets report the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission identified the men as 38-year-old Fredrick Martin and 48-year-old Earnest Norris Jr. Their bodies were found by civilians on Sunday.

According to officials, the men were reported missing last Friday after they didn't return, and their boat was found capsized in Lake Norman on Saturday, when the search was suspended.</s>Indonesian authorities on Tuesday called off search efforts to find the 164 people, who were missing after a ferry had overturned in Lake Toba on the Sumatra island in Indonesia.

The ferry had ran into rough weather on Jun. 18 and capsized as it was crossing a 6-kilometer (3.7 mile) stretch between Tigaras town and Samosir island.</s>At least 70 people are dead or missing after a ferry ran aground off the coast of Indonesia, according to an updated official toll Wednesday (July 4), the latest deadly maritime accident in the South-east Asian archipelago.

The KM Lestari was carrying about 140 passengers and dozens of vehicles when the accident happened Tuesday afternoon about 300 metres from shore near Sulawesi island, north of Indonesia's most populous island Java.

Images from the scene showed terrified passengers clinging to the side of the tipped over ferry, while others floated in the sea awaiting help.

Waves swamped the boat's deck, taking trucks and other vehicles into the sea, as rescuers battled high winds and rough seas to pluck victims from the water.

Indonesia's disaster agency said 29 people died in the accident while another 41 are still missing. Nearly 70 people have been rescued, it added.

The deadly incident came on the same day authorities officially called off the search for more than 160 people missing after another ferry sank on a volcanic lake in Sumatra two weeks ago.

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The vessel was believed to be operating illegally with no manifest and not enough life jackets when it disappeared into the depths of Lake Toba, a picturesque tourist spot in Sumatra.

While some bodies have been recovered, many are believed to be trapped inside the sunken vessel at the bottom of one of the world's deepest lakes, which plunges 500 metres in spots.

In the latest accident, a fleet of smaller boats, including local fishing vessels, worked to save passengers as bad weather prevented larger craft from approaching the stricken ferry, the transportation ministry said earlier.

It added that most passengers had been wearing life jackets.

ALSO READ: 128 missing as overloaded ferry sinks in Indonesian lake

The 48-metre vessel was sailing from Sulawesi to nearby Selayar Island when it ran into strong winds and high waves.

Deadly maritime accidents are not uncommon in Indonesia, where many people depend on boats to get around the 17,000 island nation despite lax safety standards.

More than 300 people are estimated to have drowned in 2009 when a ferry sank between Sulawesi and Borneo islands.
Authorities call off the search for 164 missing after the ferry sank in Lake Toba. Only three bodies have been recovered after the disaster. Although the wreck has been located, rescuers lack the equipment to raise it or attempt to retrieve any bodies inside.