JAKARTA: Rescuers were searching Tuesday for at least 18 people missing after a passenger ship capsized off Indonesia's Borneo island, with another 18 people already confirmed dead, an official said.
The ship was hit by strong winds and high waves in the sea off South Kalimantan province on Monday, local port authority official Hariyono told AFP.
"Rescuers have recovered 18 bodies. Today they will pull the ship ashore and dive in the area to look for 18 reported missing. This number could rise," he added.
The ship was carrying four crew members and around 100 passengers, he said.
"It was raining very heavily yesterday so weather might have caused the accident. We're also investigating if (it was) over capacity," Hariyono said.
The Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is heavily dependent on maritime services but the industry has a poor safety record and fatal accidents are common.
Up to 335 people were killed when a heavily overloaded ferry sank off Sulawesi island in January last year.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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