Five Rescued After Indonesian Boat Sinking That Left One Dead and 20 Missing

The KM Nurul Salsa sank on Wednesday after engine failure while traveling from Jampea Island to the port of Benteng on Selayar Island, going down about 43 nautical miles from that port. Five people including a seven-year-old girl were rescued on Saturday after three days at sea when a fishing boat located them near Matallang Island off Sulawesi.

The survivors, one man and three women along with the girl, had stayed afloat by clinging to a fish trap and buoyant debris after they became separated from a group of 25 by strong winds.

They sustained themselves with packets of instant noodles and biscuits, local search-and-rescue official Muhammad Arif Anwar said, after rigging together jerry cans and pieces of cork tied with rope before climbing on top. The vessel carried 78 passengers and crew though the manifest had listed only 50, and local media reported that 47 people were rescued the day after the sinking with one person known to have drowned.

Search efforts for at least 20 others who remain missing involve five large ships, a reconnaissance aircraft and a helicopter in waters south of Sulawesi in South Sulawesi province. Earlier this month at least six people died and dozens went missing when a ferry carrying 65 sank off Bali.