Bad weather hampers Indonesia ferry rescue, dozens still missing

Bad weather hampered rescue efforts for dozens of people still missing after a passenger ferry capsized off Java Island in Indonesia. Nearly two dozen survivors were brought to shore on Tuesday, but their evacuation was delayed by rough seas, officials reported. The Virgo Transport 8, carrying 213 passengers and 30 crew members, sank early Sunday, resulting in six deaths, 108 survivors, and 129 people still unaccounted for.

The death toll and missing persons figure have remained unchanged since Sunday. The ferry lost contact with its shipping company shortly after departing Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, bound for Banjarmasin on Borneo. Video footage showed the capsized vessel with part of its hull visible above water. Seventy-one rescuers, comprising navy, police, and other personnel, were involved in the operation, which also utilized more than a dozen boats and five aircraft.

However, adverse weather conditions prevented the remaining 129 missing individuals from being rescued on Tuesday, as local search and rescue agency head I Putu Sudayana explained that fighting nature's swells and waves was impossible. Four bodies were also airlifted to Banjarmasin on Tuesday. Indonesia, an archipelago of over 17,000 islands, frequently experiences marine accidents due to lax safety standards and unpredictable weather, which are the primary causes of such disasters.