ONLY 34 SURVIVORS FOUND IN BOAT ACCIDENT

Parepare, Jan 13 (ANTARA) - Till Tuesday, the number of victims of the sunken KM Teratai Prima had reached 34 including one dead.

"Last night at least 26 survivors were discovered and on Tuesday evening another eight passengers were found alive, and evacuated to Majene district, West Sulawesi," Parepare port administrator Wahida said here on Tuesday.
One of the eight passengers found on Tuesday evening was already dead. The dead victim was a woman with false teeth.
In the meantime, the search for the 232 missing passengers was continued. The rescue teams searching for the other missing passengers, comprised search and search (SAR) team, the navy, the airforce, the police, are combing the location of the accident about two miles from Majene district, West Sulawesi.
The SAR team said 21 survivors of KM Teratai were stranded on Ambo island not far from the location where the ship went down, but could not be evacuated amidst very bad weather.
Most of the survivors were picked up by fishing boats and cargo ships within hours of the accident, and brought to the nearest ports. They recounted a churning sea and relentless waves before the ferry suddenly capsized and eventually sank in the dark.
Baco, a passenger, was fast asleep in the ship's lower, economy-class deck when sea water rushed in and swept away about 20 children within seconds as he looked on helplessly.
"They were simply sucked away," he said, sobbing as he recalled how the boat suddenly capsized before dawn Sunday in a whirlwind off the coast of Sulawesi island, killing hundreds on board.
More than 232 passengers and a crew were missing and presumed dead at nightfall Monday, following a day of intense searching amid high waves and strong winds.
Baco, a father of five who was taking the ferry to Kalimantan to look for a job with an oil company, described the sudden horror of the scene.
"Many people were still sleeping when the water came to the second deck just above the engine room," said Baco, 40, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.
"Around 20 little children were taken by the sea. I could do nothing," he said while describing the screams of the drowning.
Baco clung to a piece of plastic foam and drifted for five hours before joining another man on a life raft. They were later picked up by fishermen.
A military search and rescue operation with four warships, airplanes and helicopters was expanded with eight navy ships Tuesday.
The 700-ton (635-metric ton) Teratai Prima radioed that it was in trouble just before dawn Sunday. It capsized about 30 miles (50 kilometers) off the coast of West Sulawesi.
The captain was being investigated for allegedly ignoring warnings from the national weather agency that conditions on the crossing were too dangerous.
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