Rescuers on Saturday evening located five survivors, including a 7-year-old girl, from a passenger boat that sank earlier in the week in eastern Indonesia waters. They are continuing to search for 20 other people still missing.
The KM Nurul Salsa experienced engine failure and sank Wednesday approximately 43 nautical miles (79 kilometers) from the port in the Selayar Islands, in South Sulawesi Province. The vessel was carrying 78 passengers and crew when it went down.
The five survivors were found late Saturday afloat, clinging to a fish trap belonging to a local fisherman, Muhammad Arif Anwar, head of the Makassar Search and Rescue Office, said in a statement. At least one person is confirmed to have died in the accident.
The Makassar Search and Rescue Office had previously reported the boat carried 74 people when it departed from Jampea Island, but this figure was later revised upward.
The rescued individuals, one man and four women, were found before dark and were evacuated by a passing fishing boat near Matallang Island. They were subsequently taken to the search and rescue boat.
"They were taken to the port in Benteng town for health checkups and information gathering," Anwar stated.
Passenger boats are a common mode of transport in Indonesia, an archipelago composed of more than 17,000 islands. Accidents are frequently attributed to lax safety standards and overcrowding issues.