The sinking of Ferry in Indonesia Left at Least 15 Deaths, 19 Missing

Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency said on Monday that authorities are still searching for missing passengers after a ferry sank off the island of Sulawesi, killing at least 15 people.

The agency said in a statement that of the 40 passengers on board, 19 are still missing, while six proved survived.

It is not yet clear what caused the sinking of that ill-fated ferry, which occurred around midnight on Monday.

“All the victims have been identified and handed over to their families while the survivors are now being treated in local hospitals,” said Mohamed Arafa of the local branch of the search and rescue agency.

Pictures released by the rescue agency showed the bodies of the victims covered in pieces of cloth on the floor of the local hospital.

The ferry was ferrying people across a bay on Mona Island, about 200 km south of Kendari, the capital of Southeast Sulawesi province.

Ferries are a common means of transportation in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, and accidents are common because lax safety standards often allow ships to be overloaded without adequate life-saving equipment.