Ferry accident: 74 bodies found

2005-07-19 14:41

Jakarta - Indonesian navy divers have found 74 bodies inside a ferry that sank off eastern Papua province nearly two weeks ago and many more were still believed to be trapped inside, said a rescue official on Tuesday.

The official said bad weather had hampered the search for more than 100 people believed to have been trapped inside the ferry when it sank in rough seas on July 7.

Sumpeno Juwono from the search and rescue agency office in the port of Merauke said: "We have been attempting to send divers down for four days in a row, but they only managed to reach the boat on the first day.

"Foul weather and strong currents made the dives impossible in the three following days."

Sumpeno said the search was expected to be called off on Thursday.

'Ship had about 200 people'

The state-operated Digul ferry, linking Merauke on the southeastern part of Papua province to Tanah Merah further inland up a river, sank about 15 nautical miles south off the southern Papua coast.

The vessel's manifest showed 35 passengers and 13 crew were on board when the ship left Merauke, about 3 740km east of Jakarta, but survivors said there were between 100 and 200 people on the ship.

Fifteen people, including two crew members, were rescued.

Indonesia is one of the world's largest archipelagos and relies heavily on marine and river transportation, especially in the less developed islands in the east of the country.

Ferry accidents are common because of weak enforcement of safety standards and frequent overcrowding on vessels due to the lack of other transport to some remote regions.

- AFP