November 24, 2009
TANJUNG BALAI, Indonesia (AFP) - Rescuers scoured the Malacca Strait in Indonesia for a third day Tuesday as hopes faded that any more survivors of a deadly ferry sinking would be found, officials said.
Officials said there was little chance of finding anyone alive two days after the Dumai Express went down off Karimun island near Singapore, the latest of a long series of such disasters to hit the archipelago nation.
The latest official figures gave 28 people dead, down one from a toll released Monday. Another 255 had been rescued and 21 were listed as missing, the health ministry's crisis centre said.
"Our team is continuing search operations but the chance of finding survivors is slim," Karimun police chief Imam Santoso told AFP.
"Rescue teams will keep scouring through the waters and coordinating with ferries and fishermen passing through the accident site."
Some of the missing are feared to be trapped in the wreck of the vessel, which sank in less than 30 minutes in heavy swells on Sunday after setting sail from Batam to Sumatra.
No one knows exactly how many people were on the 147-tonne craft. Its capacity was 273 passengers and crew, but police have said more than 400 people could have been on board and survivors guessed there were about 350.
The captain has blamed rough weather for the sinking but angry survivors say the ship was dangerously overcrowded.
Ferry disasters are common in Indonesia despite repeated official promises to tighten and enforce safety regulations.
Up to 335 people were killed when an overloaded ferry sank off Sulawesi island in January. In December 2006 a ferry went down off the coast of Java, killing more than 500 people.
