Rescuers find 5 survivors and are still looking for 20 others after boat sinks in Indonesia

Indonesian rescuers found five survivors, including a seven-year-old girl, days after a passenger boat sank off South Sulawesi. One person died and 20 remain missing, while search operations continue amid persistent concerns over maritime safety and overcrowded passenger vessels

Palu: Rescuers on Saturday evening found five survivors, including a 7-year-old girl, from a passenger boat that sank earlier in the week in eastern Indonesia waters and were searching for 20 other people still missing.

The KM Nurul Salsa, which was carrying 78 passengers and crew, experienced engine failure and sank Wednesday about 43 nautical miles (79 kilometres) from the port in the Selayar Islands, in South Sulawesi Province.

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The five survivors were found late Saturday afloat, clinging to a fish trap belonging to a local fisherman, Muhammad Arif Anwar, head of the Makassar Search and Rescue Office, said in a statement. At least one person is known to have died from the accident.

The Makassar Search and Rescue Office previously reported that the boat was carrying 74 people when it departed from Jampea Island, but the figure was later raised.

The five survivors, one man and four women, were found before dark and evacuated by a fishing boat that passed near Matallang Island before they were finally taken to the search and rescue boat.

“They were taken to the port in Benteng town for health checkups and information gathering,” Anwar said.

Passenger boats are a common form of transportation in Indonesia, an archipelago with more than 17,000 islands. Lax safety standards and problems with overcrowding frequently result in accidents.