FERRY SINKS, 180 MISSING IN INDONESIA

Simalngun, Indonesia, June 20: Nearly 180 passengers are missing after a ferry sank into the depths of a volcanic lake in Indonesia, police said on Wednesday, almost tripling initial estimates.

However, the searchand-rescue agency cautioned it was still unclear how many people were aboard the vessel when it capsized. The wooden boat, which sank on Monday on Sumatra’s Lake Toba, a popular tourist destination, was thought to be operating illegally, with no manifest or passenger tickets. The situation has sparked confusion — and different estimates from various agencies — about the number of people on board. Indonesia’s disaster age-ncy, separate to the search-and-rescue body, originally said some 80 people were on the boat along with dozens of motorcycles when it overturned and sank.

Police said in a statement on Wednesday there were as many as 178 people missing, which if confirmed would make it one of Indonesia’s worst maritime disasters.

The estimates were based on local people reporting missing relatives who they believed could have been on the ship. “But many people got on the boat without a ticket so it’s unclear how many were on board,” Muhammad Syaugi, the head of search-and-rescue agency said.

So far, at least three bodies have been found and another 18 people rescued, according to the local disaster agency, as the search turned to recovering victims -including those still trapped inside the sunken boat.