Authorities said Thursday that the captain of an overloaded Indonesian ferry that sank within the depths of a volcanic lake has been detained for questioning in reference to the deadly disaster.
The captain, identified as Tua Sagala, was certainly one of only 18 people rescued after the ship capsized and sank on Monday afternoon in the favored tourist Lake Toba in Sumatra.
Four passengers were previously confirmed dead, however the search and rescue agency revised that number to a few on Thursday.
Official estimates put 193 people missing as of Thursday morning, raising fears the incident could grow to be certainly one of Indonesia’s deadliest ferry disasters.
The traditional picket boat is believed to have been operating illegally, with no manifest or passenger tickets.
Official passenger numbers are based on reports from families whose missing relatives could have been on the doomed ship, but their accounts are difficult to confirm.
If confirmed, the boat, which also carried dozens of motorcycles, could have grow to be jammed with passengers 4 or five times its capability.
According to the police, the ship’s captain can be its owner.
“The captain of the boat is now on police duty,” police spokesman Yusri Yunus said on Thursday.
“But we haven’t questioned him yet because he’s still traumatized.”
Top government officials, including the transport minister and the national police chief, were expected to reach on the scene later Thursday.
Hundreds of mourning people have been waiting on the shore for several days, hoping for news concerning the fate of their missing family members.
It was unclear whether there have been any foreigners on board.
According to survivors, the boat began shaking because it struggled to address strong winds and high waves about halfway through the 40-minute journey from the island in the midst of the lake to the shore.
The rescue operation has now focused on recovering bodies – including people who should be contained in the sunken boat.
Authorities deployed divers and underwater vehicles together with about 400 personnel to look certainly one of the world’s deepest lakes.
Toba is about 500 meters deep in some places and covers an area of about 1,145 km².
The lake, popular with international and domestic tourists, fills the crater of a supervolcano that exploded in an enormous eruption tens of hundreds of years ago.
The disaster got here just days after a dozen people died in an unrelated ferry accident in a Southeast Asian archipelago where many individuals depend upon boats to get around.
Traditional ships – just like the one which crashed on Lake Toba – are sometimes packed beyond capability.
They are rarely equipped with enough life jackets and their condition will be dire.
This article appeared within the print edition of the South China Morning Post as: The police arrest the captain in reference to the ferry disaster
