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Indonesian ferry sinks in storm Indonesian ferry sinks in storm
(30 minutes later)
A ferry carrying about 250 passengers and 17 crew has sunk in a storm in central Indonesia, officials say. A search operation is underway after a ferry carrying about 250 passengers and 17 crew sunk in a storm in central Indonesia, officials say.
Eighteen people have been rescued alive so far but the fate of the others is unclear, Indonesian officials said. Search operations are under way. Indonesia's transport minister told Reuters that 150 people had been taken off the ferry, but said he did not know if they were dead or alive.
The ferry from Sulawesi to Kalimantan was battered by waves of up to two metres (seven feet), an official said. Jusman Syafi'i Djamal said a tropical cyclone had caused waves of five to six metres (19 feet).
There have been several maritime accidents in Indonesia, where ferries are a popular means of cheap transport. There have been several maritime accidents in Indonesia in recent years.
A port official told AP news agency that the Teratai Prima radioed that it was "in the middle of bad weather and hit by a storm." A transport agency spokesman earlier said 18 people were known to have survived in this latest accident, but did not give details.
It was not immediately clear if authorities expected to find more survivors.
The ferry was travelling from Pare Pare in South Sulawesi to Samarinda in East Kalimantan when it went down.
Boats are a major form of transport in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands which has a population of 235 million.
But poor enforcement of safety regulations and overcrowding causes accidents that claim hundreds of lives each year.