Rescue operations are underway following the capsizing of a boat carrying 18 people in adverse weather conditions near the Mentawai Islands, off the coast of West Sumatra province in Indonesia. The local search and rescue agency reports that as of now, 11 individuals are missing, while seven have been successfully rescued.
The rescue team, comprising dozens of individuals and two boats, was present at the scene of the incident on Tuesday. The boat had departed from Sikakap, a town on the Mentawai Islands, and was en route to another town, Tuapejat, with 10 local government officials among the 18 passengers.
Rudi, the head of the Mentawai search and rescue agency, emphasized their focus on conducting a thorough search around the estimated location of the accident to locate all victims. He did not specify the cause of the capsizing, but acknowledged that marine accidents in the Southeast Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands are frequent due to inadequate safety measures and unfavorable weather conditions.
On July 3, a ferry transporting 65 individuals went down off the island of Bali, resulting in at least 18 fatalities. In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, claiming the life of an Australian woman and injuring at least one more person. In 2018, over 150 individuals lost their lives when a ferry sank in one of the world’s deepest volcanic lakes on the island of Sumatra.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/15/boat-capsizes-off-indonesias-mentawai-islands-eleven-people-missing?traffic_source=rss
