BALI (Sputnik) — Two children aged 3 to 5 died and three people went missing after a passenger ferry sank on Monday in a river in Indonesia's Sulawesi Island.
“We managed to save 20 passengers, two others died, three went missing,” local search operation chief Deden Rodwansyah was quoted as saying by local news portal Detiknews.
He added that the emergency response center was opened in the area, where reports on missing people can be submitted.
According to preliminary data, a leak in the ferry's hull caused the catastrophe.
In the past years, several similar incidents happened in Indonesia. In 2014, four people died when a boat capsized in Lake Sentani in Indonesia's Papua province. In 2013 four people died as two boats collided on Lake Toba. In both incidents, the boats were overcrowded with people, which was later proved to be the main reason behind the tragedies.
