Scores dead or missing in Indonesia ferry accident

The ferry was carrying about 140 passengers and dozens of vehicles when the accident happened. Pic/AFP

Some 70 people are dead or missing after a ferry ran aground off the coast of Indonesia, according to an updated official toll yesterday, the latest deadly maritime accident in the Southeast Asian archipelago.

The KM Lestari was carrying about 140 passengers and dozens of vehicles when the accident happened yesterday 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 nearly 70 people have been rescued.

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

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