A TOURIST boat ferrying Indonesian and international passengers from Lombok to Komodo sank in a storm on Friday night, with 23 rescued as of Monday morning.
According to news agency AFP, the boat went down close to Sangeang, a small island in east Indonesia and home to an active volcano, after sustaining damage to its hull during the storm.
Ten foreign passengers from New Zealand, the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and France were saved on Sunday.
A further eight foreigners, five Indonesians, four boat crew members and a tour guide were picked up this morning having survived in a lifeboat too small to fit all the boat’s passengers or floating in their life jackets.
Two more foreign passengers remain unaccounted for, but Lombok’s search and rescue agency head told AFP that search operations are continuing with assistance from the military and police forces.
As a massive archipelago, Indonesia relies on boats to connect its over 17,000 islands. AFP reported that last month alone two vessels sank in different parts of the country, leaving 36 dead.
