Indonesia rescuers battle turbulent seas in search for 129 people after passenger ship capsizes
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Hundreds of Indonesian rescuers including the coastguard and the navy raced on Monday to board a passenger ship that capsized in the Java Sea over the weekend as they searched for the 129 people still missing, officials said, with the confirmed death toll at six, Reuters reported.
The Virgo Transport 8 ship carrying 243 people went missing in bad weather early on Sunday, the rescue agency said. Authorities have since rescued 108 people from the ship, which was travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.
Choppy waters with high waves and strong winds were impeding the search on Monday, said Mohammad Syafii, head of the national rescue agency.
The agency has deployed at least 622 personnel, 17 ships, five helicopters and aircraft to find the missing passengers, Syafii added. Some of the ships have arrived at the location but it was difficult for rescuers to make their way into the capsized ship, he said.
"We would also deploy personnel with underwater rescue skills but the current conditions do not allow us to," he said.
"While waiting for the weather conditions to improve, we are identifying more personnel with special skills," he said, adding the death toll remained at six.