Another boat accident occurs in Indonesia's Lake Toba, one missing

Indonesian rescue team officers conduct a search operation for the missing victims of a capsized ferry at Lake Toba, in North Sumatra province, on June 23, 2018. PHOTO: AFP

JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - One person was reported missing when a boat capsized in Indonesia's Lake Toba on Friday evening (June 22), just days after another boat sank in the depths of the picturesque tourist destination in Sumatra.

The accident occurred after the engine of passenger boat, the KM Ramos Risma Marisi, broke down while sailing to Nainggolan Port in Samosir, an island at the centre of the world's biggest volcanic lake.

It was the second boat accident to have occurred at Lake Toba within one week after KM Sinar Bangun ferry, which was suspected to have been carrying more than 200 passengers and 60 vehicles, capsized on its way to Tigaras Port in neighbouring Simalungun regency on Monday (June 18). Only eighteen people survived the incident, while three people have been found dead.

The wooden boat involved in Friday's incident was carrying five passengers when it encountered technical problems with its engine at around 9pm local time, after dropping off several passengers at the nearby Sibandang island. One passenger was reported as still missing, while four other passengers survived the incident.

Medan search and rescue agency head Budiawan said the team had been able to pull the capsized boat to Nainggolan Beach, but the whereabouts of Rahmat remained unknown.

Budiawan said the search team would continue its operation to search for the missing passenger on Saturday.

"We stopped our search and rescue operation on Friday evening due to bad weather," he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, the search for the 192 other passengers missing in the earlier incident is continuing. An effort to locate the shipwreck is also ongoing.

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