According to a statement made by a local search and rescue agency official, Kukuh Widodo, on Friday, a passenger boat carrying dozens overturned in western Indonesia, resulting in the drowning of 11 people. Most of the deceased were women and children, and the bodies were found after the accident off the coast of western Riau province on Thursday afternoon. The rescuers saved 62 people, but one other is still missing.
The capsized boat, named Evelyn Calista 01, was carrying 74 people and was bound for Tanjung Pinang city in the Riau islands. It upset in a while after leaving Tembilahan port, placed 198 kilometres (123 miles) away in a neighbouring province.
The cause of the accident is still being investigated, as the official stated. He also notified that the number of missing could surge as the exact number of people aboard the boat was not confirmed.
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Due to lax safety standards, marine accidents are frequent in Indonesia, which is a Southeast Asian archipelago made up of approximately 17,000 islands. In 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world’s deepest lakes on Sumatra Island.
