Jakarta sources added police said on Wednesday that more than 190 people are now believed to be missing after Monday's ferry disaster on Lake Toba, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Meanwhile the number, revised up from 130, is three times the number of passengers the ferry was licensed to carry.
Accordingly Lake Toba, the world's largest volcanic lake, was busy with tourists celebrating the annual Eid holiday when the ferry sank in poor weather. Police said many victims are thought to have been trapped inside the vessel. Moreover Indonesia's national search and rescue agency said only 18 survivors had been found, all within hours of the tragedy. As per report three bodies have been recovered. A BBC report said authorities say the boat operators didn't hand out tickets so there are no records of who was on board.
Meanwhile desperate families have spent the past
days desperately waiting for news and hoping that the search and rescue boats
returning to shore might bring any news. Earlier on Wednesday, divers and an
underwater drone joined the search efforts and the teams still need to locate
the wooden ferry at the bottom of the 1,500-ft-deep lake. Fajar Alamsyah Putra
told "This is a test from God for our family". Moreover according to
official regulations, all boats in Indonesia must not exceed capacity and must
have life jackets for every single passenger on board.
