By SPA,
Jakarta : At least one person is dead and eight are missing after a wooden boat sank in rough seas off Sulawesi island, ANTARA quoted an official as saying Wednesday.
The KM Marsel capsized Tuesday while it was transporting 19 gold miners and four crew members from Canggoreng island to the nearby port of Kasipute in Bombana district.
“At least one person is dead, 14 have been rescued and eight others are still missing,” Southeast Sulawesi province Search and Rescue chief Amirrudin told AFP.
The official said the vessel sank at 3.40 pm (0840 GMT) some 12 miles (19.2 kilometers) from the coastline after it was struck by waves as high as 2.5 meters.
A 30-member rescue team using three boats as well as dozens of local fishing vessels were scouring local waters Wednesday for survivors, Amirrudin said.
Bombana district is around 1,700 kilometers (1,056 miles) northeast of Indonesia’s capital Jakarta.
Indonesia, a nation of some 17,000 islands, is heavily reliant on sea transport links where safety standards are often lax and boats carry far more people than is safe.