An accident occurred on a passenger ship carrying 243 people while sailing in the Java Sea of Indonesia, leaving 1 dead and 140 missing. A total of 102 people evacuated to nearby ships. Local authorities launched a search for the missing.
On the 13th (local time), according to Reuters, The Associated Press, and CNN Indonesia, the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Agency in South Kalimantan, Indonesia, received an accident report from "Burgos Transport No. 8" at about 4:10 a.m. that day.
At the time of the accident, there were 243 passengers on board. Of them, 1 died and 102 evacuated using three other vessels. The remaining 140 are missing.
An official at the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Agency said the evacuated passengers will be transported to a port in East Java.
Burgos Transport No. 8 departed Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia's second-largest city, at about 10:13 a.m. the previous day and headed for Banjarmasin.
The passenger ship reported deteriorating weather while underway and then lost contact at around 2 a.m. that day. The specific circumstances of the accident have not yet been disclosed.
The last confirmed position was at sea about 148 kilometers from Basir Port in Banjarmasin.
An official at the search and rescue agency said, "Immediately after receiving the report that contact had been lost with the passenger ship, we dispatched a rescue team to the last confirmed location," and added, "We are focusing on finding the missing."