Indonesian boat capsizes; eight rescued, 11 still missing

JAKARTA: Rescuers in Indonesia are searching for 11 people still missing after a boat overturned in rough weather near the Mentawai Islands in West Sumatra province, the local search and rescue agency said on Tuesday. 

The accident happened on Monday morning, and so far, eight people have been pulled to safety. 

There were 18 people on board, including ten local government workers, when the boat left Sikakap for a nearby town in the Mentawai Islands, the rescue agency said in a statement.

Two boats and dozens of rescuers were deployed to find the missing people on Tuesday.

Boats and ferries are a regular mode of transport in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, and accidents are relatively common due to bad weather as well as lax safety standards that often allow vessels to be overloaded.

A ferry sank earlier this month near the island of Bali. Of the 65 people on board, 18 died, 30 survived, and 17 remain missing.