SELAYAR: Nearly three dozen people have died after a ferry ran aground off the coast of Indonesia, according to an updated official toll on Wednesday, the latest deadly maritime accident in the Southeast Asian archipelago.

The KM Lestari was believed to be carrying nearly 190 people when damage to its hull forced the captain to ground the vessel on Tuesday afternoon about 300 metres off Selayar island, near the larger island of Sulawesi.

Indonesia’s disaster agency said 34 people died in the accident while 155 passengers have been rescued, it added.

A fleet of smaller boats, including local fishing vessels, worked to save passengers as bad weather prevented larger craft from approaching the stricken ferry, the transportation ministry said.

It added that most passengers had been wearing life jackets. “The captain and ship owner were the last two people to get off the ship,” Agus H. Purnomo, a director at the ministry of transportation, said in a statement.

The 48-metre (158-foot) vessel was sailing from Sulawesi to nearby Selayar island when strong winds and high waves caused damage to its portside hull and it began taking on water.

The captain deliberately ran the boat aground close to shore in an effort to reduce casualties, the transportation ministry said.

Authorities warned that the boat’s owner could face charges.

The ship was also carrying some $2 million worth of rupiah currency destined for a bank branch on Selayar to pay local civil servants a bonus. The money was retrieved from the boat on Wednesday, still neatly packed in seven gunny sacks.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2018