Bad weather hits desperate Indonesia ferry search

By Yusuf Ahmad

PARE-PARE, Indonesia (Reuters) - Driving rain on Tuesday hit the hunt for more survivors from an Indonesian ferry that sank off Sulawesi island at the weekend, with the number of survivors creeping up to 34, officials said.

The ferry, which had 250 passengers and 17 crew according to the manifest, was travelling from Pare-Pare on the west coast of Sulawesi to Samarinda city on Indonesia's side of Borneo island when it ran into bad weather Sunday.

Since then there has been little let up in the dreadful weather hampering the search.

"Until now we have found 35 people, but one of them was dead. They were found around the area where the boat sank," said Taufik Bulu, head of maritime safety in Pare-Pare.

"The wind is strong and right now it has been raining heavily. This is a problem," added the official, who said that seven ships had been deployed in the search effort.

Transport Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan also said the weather was impeding the search, although he said authorities were awaiting a cargo ship that might be carrying seven more survivors to the port of Makassar in Sulawesi.

"Today we continued the search, but air surveillance has been delayed, even the plane the transport minister boarded had to return due to bad weather," said Ervan.

Transport Minister Jusman Syafi'i Djamal told a news conference Monday that a preliminary investigation showed the 10-year-old boat capsized Sunday after it was hit by waves.