Indonesia: 26 people missing after ferry sinks

Twenty-six people are missing after a ferry ran out of fuel and sank in bad weather off the coast of Indonesia, officials have said.

The country’s search and rescue agency said the vessel was carrying 43 people when it capsized on Thursday in the Makassar Strait, the sea separating the islands of Sulawesi and Borneo.

A group of 40 rescuers were at sea searching for survivors, a rescuer said.

Marine accidents are common in Indonesia, a south-east Asian archipelago of about 17,000 islands where safety standards are often lax.

Last week, a ferry carrying more than 800 people ran aground in shallow waters off East Nusa Tenggara province and remained stuck for two days before being dislodged. No one was hurt.

In 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world’s deepest lakes on Sumatra Island.