Indonesia Searches for 140 Missing From Passenger Ship
Indonesian rescuers search for 140 missing passengers from the ferry Virgo Transport 8 after it lost contact in the Java Sea on Sunday amid severe weather; 103 have been evacuated but one died during the rescue.
Indonesian search and rescue authorities are mobilizing to find 140 passengers from the ferry Virgo Transport 8, which was carrying a total of 243 passengers and crew members. The vessel lost contact while traveling in the Java Sea on Sunday morning local time amid severe weather conditions, though the exact cause has not been confirmed. At least 103 passengers have been evacuated and some are being taken to a port in East Java, but one person died during the evacuation process.
The Virgo Transport 8 departed from Surabaya in East Java on Saturday, September 12, bound for Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, when it lost contact. Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries for transportation between islands. Sea routes are considerably cheaper and more accessible than air travel, but safety standards are often loosely enforced, leading to a relatively high accident rate.
