Rescuers search for 130 people after Indonesia passenger ship flipped; six dead, government says

The passenger ship, carrying ​243 people, was reported missing after losing contact early on Sunday during bad weather

Indonesian rescuers were searching on Sunday for 130 people from a passenger ship that sank in ​the Java Sea after 113 others were evacuated, the country's search ​and rescue agency said, adding that six people had died.

An ⁠Indonesian passenger ship carrying 243 people, including 30 crew members, was ​reported missing after losing contact with authorities early on Sunday during bad weather, ​the search and rescue agency said.

The Virgo Transport 8 ship set sail on Saturday from the East Java city of Surabaya to the South Kalimantan city of Banjarmasin, it ​said.

Later on Sunday, the agency said six people died after rescuers ​found 107 people safe, while 130 others remained missing.

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At a press conference on Sunday, Dudy ‌Purwagandhi, ⁠Indonesia's transport minister, said the ship had flipped and had not sunk, citing observations from the crew of a helicopter, adding that the incident's cause awaits further investigation.

The search-and-rescue agency earlier said the ship had sunk.

I Putu ​Sudayana, the head ​of the agency's ⁠Banjarmasin office, said in a video statement that evacuees had been transported using different ships and some of ​them would be taken to an East Java port.

Rescuers launched ​a ⁠search, deploying a team, ships and a helicopter to the passenger vessel's last known position, he said.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries ⁠for ​transportation, with sea routes more affordable and readily ​available than air travel.

However, safety standards are not always rigorously enforced, resulting in a relatively ​high accident rate.