JAKARTA, Indonesia: At least 11 people are missing after a boat carrying 18 passengers capsized near Indonesia’s Mentawai islands off western Sumatra on Monday morning, local authorities said.
Seven people were rescued, and search teams are focusing efforts around the suspected accident site, said Rudi, head of the Mentawai search and rescue agency.
The cause of the incident remains unclear. Marine accidents are common across Indonesia’s 17,000 islands, often due to poor safety standards or severe weather.
The incident follows several recent maritime disasters, including a July ferry sinking off Bali that killed 18, and a March capsizing that left one Australian woman dead. – AFP
