At least 15 dead after wooden ferry capsizes off Indonesia’s Sulawesi island

Despite being designed for just 20 people, the wooden passenger boat was carrying 48 from Lanto village to Lagili village in Buton Central regency

It sank just after midnight. Rescuers said on Monday that all passengers were accounted for and the search had been ‘declared finished and closed’

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Residents and rescuers from Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) search for survivors from the capsized ferry early on Monday morning. Photo: BASARNAS via AP

Published: 1:01pm, 24 Jul 2023Updated: 3:28pm, 24 Jul 2023

An overloaded passenger boat capsized off Indonesia’s Sulawesi island on Monday, killing at least 15 people.

The vessel was travelling from Lanto village in Buton Central regency in Southeast Sulawesi province to nearby Lagili village when it capsized just after midnight on Monday, local search and rescue agency head Muhammad Arafah said.

The boat sank with 48 people on board, the local office of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said in a statement. The wooden boat was designed to hold 20.

Six people were rescued and taken to hospital for treatment while 15 bodies had been recovered, Arafah said. The cause of the sinking was being investigated, the agency added in a statement.

Personnel from Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) search for survivors of the ferry sinking off Sulawesi Island on Monday. Photo: BASARNAS via AP

“All the victims have been identified and handed over to the families while the survivors are now being treated in local hospitals,” Arafah said.