JAKARTA: At least 24 people, including children, died on Tuesday (Jul 3) after a ferry ran aground off the coast of Indonesia, officials said, as rescuers raced to save scores of other passengers still missing or stranded aboard the vessel in rough seas.

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

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Images from the latest accident showed passengers clinging to the side of the KM Lestari as it listed in waters off Sulawesi island, while other passengers floated in the sea awaiting help.

There was a leak at the hull on the port side, which caused the ship to take in water. (Photo: National Disaster Mitigation Agency)

The ferry ran aground about 300 metres from the coast, Indonesia's transportation agency said, as waves swamped trucks and other vehicles on the boat's deck before they plunged into the water.

Twenty four bodies have been recovered, with 74 survivors, but 41 people have not yet been accounted for, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia's disaster management agency said.

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"Some passengers are still on board because of the rain and high waves," Nugroho said in a statement. "The evacuation is ongoing."

A total of 139 people and 48 vehicles were listed in the ship's manifest.

A fleet of smaller boats, including local fishing vessels, was working to save passengers as bad weather prevented larger craft from approaching the stricken ferry, the transportation ministry said.

It added that passengers had been wearing life jackets.

The ship was carrying 139 passengers and 48 vehicles. (Photo: National Disaster Mitigation Agency)

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 archipelago nation despite lax safety standards.</s>Jakarta: A ferry sank off Selayar Islands Regency in South Sulawesi province on Tuesday, July 3, 2017.



 KM Lestari Maju capsized en route from Bira port, Bulukumba to Pamatata port, Selayar. It reportedly carried around 139 passengers and 48 vehicles.

"There was a leak in the hull," National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.The National SAR Agency (Basarnas) has deployed its officers to rescue the passengers. It also has coordinated with related agencies to gather information."The evacuation process is still on going until now," the BNPB official added.(WAH)</s>At least 12 people are dead after a ferry ran aground and took on water off Indonesia's coast, forcing terrified passengers to leap into the sea and wait for rescue.

Passengers snapped dramatic photos as they clung to railings onboard the sinking vessel which was carrying up to 139 people and didn't have enough life jackets for everyone.

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

Pictures show huge waves swamping the listing ferry, people wearing orange life jackets as they float in the sea, and cars and trucks sinking in the turbulent water.

One of the vehicles that sank was a secure car carrying 30bn Indonesian rupiah (£1.5m) in cash from a bank. Terrified passengers cling to the ferry - with a sign reading "Safety First" in the background. [Courtesy]

Footage captured earlier shows scenes of panic onboard as people put on flotation vests while children scream and the boat is whipped by strong winds.

The KM Lestari ferry was sailing from Bira, on Sulawesi island, to Pamatata, on Selayar island, when disaster struck in strong winds and 13ft waves.

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Officials said the ferry ran aground after suffering engine damage.

The hull was damaged, causing the vessel to take on water and list.

Rescuers raced to the scene to pull passengers out of the water in heavy rain. The effort was hampered by poor weather and rough sea conditions. There weren't enough life vests for everyone onboard, it was claimed. [Courtesy]

A spokesman for the Selayar Islands Regency told Metro TV that there weren't enough life jackets for everyone on board.

ALSO READ: Man dies after mother’s coffin falls on him

The ferry's manifest listed 139 passengers and 48 vehicles, including two buses and 14 trucks. People float in the sea after the vessel began taking on water. [Courtesy]

Officials have told local media that the ferry was about 15 minutes from port when it began to sink on Tuesday afternoon. Cars sink after being washed off the ferry. [Courtesy]

The disaster happened a day after Indonesia called 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.

An overcrowded wooden ferry capsized during a storm on the 1,500-ft deep Lake Toba on June 18 as passengers headed home after the Eid holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting season.

Just 18 passengers survived. Three were confirmed dead and nearly 200 are still missing two weeks on.

The cold, murky lake is far deeper than any scuba diver can go, and it has never been completely surveyed.

The recovery operation was hampered by technical and logistical hurdles.</s>At least 12 people were confirmed dead in Tuesday's incident, the chief of South Sulawesi's Selayar regency told broadcaster TVOne,. Officials said the dead include a two-year-old boy and three-year-old girl. Dramatic images showed passengers clinging onto railings with huge waves hitting the KM Lestari ferry. Scared passengers jumped into the ocean as they waited for rescuers.

The ship was sailing from Bira on Sulawesi island to Pamatata on Selayar island when tragedy struck. Waves as high as 13ft swamped the vessel, damaging the hull and causing the ferry to take on water and list. Officials said the ferry ran aground due to engine damage. There were also vehicles on board the ferry when it filled with water and sank, media said. The vessel was close to shore at the time. One of the vehicles on board was said to be carrying 30bn Indonesian rupiah (£1.5m) in cash from a bank.

It was unclear how many people had been rescued, and television images showed dozens of passengers hanging on to the keeling vessel or bobbing in the water wearing life jackets. The disaster comes in the wake of last month's sinking of an overcrowded ferry on the southeast Asian nation's Lake Toba, one of the world's deepest volcanic lakes, which took about 200 lives. 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 450 m (1,500 ft) with victims trapped inside, but technical and logistical challenges forced the recovery to be called off.</s>Jakarta: At least 12 people were killed after KM Lestari Maju ferry sank off the coast of Selayar Islands regency in South Sulawesi province on Tuesday, July 3, 2018.



 "That is the initial data of the death toll," said National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugorho in a written statement received by Medcom.id.

Around 01:30 PM local, the boat capsized en route from Bira port, Bulukumba to Pamatata port, Selayar. It reportedly carried around 139 passengers and 48 vehicles.According to officials, the boat experienced a leax in the port side of the hull. It also reportedly ran into strong winds and high waves.The National SAR Agency (Basarnas) has deployed its officers to rescue the passengers. It also has coordinated with related agencies to identify the victims."The sinking location is around 200 meters from the coastline," Selayar Islands Regenct Basli Ali told Metro TV this afternoon.(WAH)</s>At least 24 people were killed and 74 others survived after a passenger ferry with 139 people on board went down Tuesday afternoon in central Indonesia, government officials said.

The KM Lestari Maju was about to sink off the southern coast of Sulawesi island amid bad weather when its captain purposefully grounded it in a shallow area to save the lives of those on board, Director General of Sea Transportation Agus Purnomo told reporters.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said at least 24 passengers, who fell into the sea when the ferry started to sink, drowned.

“Evacuation is still ongoing and there are still some passengers on the capsized ferry. Other ships are afraid to approach because of high waves,” Sutopo said.

The incident occurred about 300 metres (1,000 feet) off the Pabadilang coast in South Sulawesi province at 2.30pm.

Maritime accidents occur with some frequency in Indonesia, mostly due to safety problems such as overcapacity and bad maintenance of ships and boats.

Last month, passenger boat Sinar Bangun, carrying as many as 188 people, sank in Lake Toba in the northern part of Sumatra island with only 21 survivors. Only three bodies were found and rest remained unaccounted for.

The wreckage was later found at a depth of 450 metres (1,500 feet), but authorities did not attempt to lift it for lack of salvaging technology, and the search for victims ended earlier this week.</s>At least 130 passengers have been rescued from a sinking ferry off an Indonesian island, but 31 people were killed when the vessel went down in rough seas.

After spending the night on the stricken boat, the passengers were rescued early on Wednesday morning, officials said.

The KM Lestari Maju, which began sinking in rough seas near Sulawesi on Tuesday afternoon, had 139 passengers on board.

The vessel's captain steered it towards shore in a bid to save lives, grounding it between 655-985 feet (200-300 meters) from land.

Amiruddin, chief of the South Sulawesi search and rescue agency, said there were 164 people on the vessel including crew and that 130 survived. Three are missing, believed drowned inside the craft.

"We are still searching for three others who we strongly believe are still inside the ship," Amiruddin, who goes by a single name, said.

Indonesia's Director-General of Sea Transportation, Agus Purnomo, confirmed in a statement that people trapped on the ferry overnight were rescued early on Wednesday, but did not give any numbers.

He said the boat owner and the captain were the last two people to leave the vessel.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency released pictures showing passengers - most wearing life jackets - clinging to the listing vessel as others descended into the water.

The 159-foot vessel, carrying several dozen vehicles including a bus and trucks, was on its way to Selayar island, just south of the main Sulawesi island, from the port of Bira when it began taking on water.

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, officials called off a search for 164 people presumed drowned when a wooden ferry sank near Sumatra on 18 June, the worst sinking in about a decade.</s>The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon. A ferry with 139 passengers and 48 cars on board capsized off the coast of Indonesia's Sulawesi island.

A search operation is currently underway. At the moment, it is not yet clear how many people have been rescued.

READ MORE: S Korea Trying to Rescue 192 People From Ferry That Hit Rock off Country's Coast

Images from the scene show some people clinging to the sinking ferry, whereas other passengers are floating in the water waiting for help.

A similar incident occurred two weeks ago when a ferry with at least 80 passengers on board sank in Lake Toba, a popular tourist destination in North Sumatra.</s>JAKARTA: At least a dozen people, including two children, died on Tuesday after a ferry ran aground off the coast of Indonesia, officials said, as rescuers raced to save more than 125 other passengers thought to be aboard the vessel.

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

Images from the latest accident showed passengers clinging to the side of the KM Lestari as it listed in waters off Sulawesi island, while other passengers floated in the sea awaiting help. The ferry ran aground about 300 metres from the coast, Indonesia´s transportation agency said, as waves swamped trucks and other vehicles on the boat´s deck before they plunged into the water.

"12 people have died and we´re still rescuing victims," Syamsibar, the head of South Sulawesi´s search and rescue agency -- who like many Indonesians uses just one name -- told AFP.

Authorities have not yet accounted for all 139 people listed in the ship´s manifest, local police spokesman Dicky Sondani told Kompas TV.

Indonesia´s disaster agency is searching the area with the help of fishing boats, but bad weather was preventing larger vessels from getting near the location, the transportation ministry said. It added that passengers had been wearing life jackets. The 48-metre vessel was sailing from Sulawesi to nearby Selayar island when it ran into strong winds and high waves.</s>JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Passengers trapped for a night on a stricken ferry off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi were rescued early Wednesday, officials said, as the death toll rose to 31 with three people missing and believed drowned inside the vessel. The latest in a succession of boat tragedies in Indonesia began on the same day that officials called off a search for 164 people presumed drowned when a wooden ferry sank on June 18 in a deep volcanic crater lake on the island of Sumatra.

The Sulawesi ferry, with 139 passengers aboard according to its manifest, began sinking Tuesday afternoon in rough seas. In a desperate bid to save lives, the vessel's captain steered it toward shore, grounding it between 985-655 feet from land.

Indonesia's director-general of sea transportation, Agus Purnomo, said in a statement that people trapped on the ferry overnight were rescued early Wednesday.

He didn't specify how many but said the captain and the boat owner were the last two people to leave the vessel.

Amiruddin, chief of the South Sulawesi search and rescue agency, said there were 164 people on the vessel including crew. Amiruddin, who uses one name, said 130 survived.

"We are still searching for three others who we strongly believe are still inside the ship," Amiruddin said.

Photos released by National Disaster Mitigation Agency on Tuesday showed passengers clinging to the listing vessel as others descended into the heavy seas using ropes hung over its side. Most appeared to be wearing lifejackets.

Purnomo credited the captain's actions with helping to save lives.

The 159-foot-long vessel, carrying several dozen vehicles including a bus and trucks, was on its way to Selayar island, just south of the main Sulawesi island, from the port of Bira when it began taking on water.

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

The Lake Toba sinking two weeks ago was the worst in about a decade.
Ferry MV KM Lestari Maju sinks while en route to Pamatata in Selayar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, with 48 vehicles and 139 passengers on board. At least 12 fatalities are reported.