JAKARTA: A Spanish family of four is missing after a tourist boat sank in Indonesia, state news agency Antara reported Saturday (Dec 27).
The vessel was carrying 11 people when it sank in the Padar Island Strait near the popular destination of Labuan Bajo on Friday night, Antara said.
Seven people including two Spanish tourists, four crew members and a tour guide were rescued.
A search for the remaining four was continuing on Saturday, and Padar and Komodo islands in Komodo National Park in East Nusa Tenggara have been temporarily closed to visitors due to potential extreme weather, the Labuan Bajo port authority told Antara.
The authority attributed the sinking to high waves of up to three metres, Antara said.
“This made it difficult for us to carry out the initial search,” port authority chief Stephanus Risdiyanto told the agency.
Video released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed emergency workers in blue uniforms helping people, some barefoot, out of an inflatable orange boat and onto shore.
Other footage showed people in lifejackets sitting on a rescue boat, and a similar vessel kicking up spray as it motored across the waves in the dark.
Marine accidents occur regularly in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands, often due to lax safety standards and bad weather.