July 5 (UPI) — At least 34 people are confirmed dead after a ferry sunk off the coast of Indonesia on Tuesday.
The ferry was traveling off the coast of Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province when it began to take on water and sink. The captain of the ferry then deliberately crashed into Selayar Island to save as many lives as possible, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster management agency, according to CNN.
The ferry was carrying 189 passengers and 155 survived the incident. According to Sky News, the survivors spent the night on the sunken boat until they were rescued the next morning.
Sone of the people who came to the passengers’ rescue were fisherman who work in the area.
Indonesia’s Director-General of Sea Transportation, Agus Purnomo, said the captain and the owner of the ferry were the last two people to leave the vessel.
Tuesday’s deadly incident comes less than a month after a ferry sung in Indonesia’s Lake Toba, in Sumatra, causing nearly 200 people to go missing.
