Overloading is not the main reason for the sinking of ship KM Teratai Prima Kosong off the West Sulawesi coast, said an Indonesian official on Monday.
"We suspect high waves was the main cause of the shipwreck," the Jakarta Post daily on Monday quoted the Indonesian Transportation Ministry's Director General for Marine Transportation Sunaryo as saying.
"The ship was carrying only 250 passengers and 17 crew members, below its capacity of 300 people," he said, adding that the ship was also seaworthy.
Indonesian local police will interrogate the ferry's pilot Sabir, one of the 18 survivors who managed to swim to shore in Majene by Sunday morning, to help investigate the accident. The police said they suspected Sabir had been careless, thus causing hundreds of passengers to drown.
Rescue teams have picked out four additional survivors from the water by Monday afternoon, bringing the total rescued to 22. More than 200 people are still missing.
Source:Xinhua
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