Hunt for survivors launched after boat capsizes off Indonesia's Mentawai islands

JAKARTA: A desperate search is underway off the coast of Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands after a boat carrying 18 people capsized in rough weather, the local search and rescue agency said on Tuesday. 

Eight people have been rescued so far after the incident that took place around 11 am (0400 GMT) on Monday, while 11 others are still missing, the rescue agency said in a statement. 

The boat, which was carrying ten local government workers, ran into trouble on Monday morning during its journey between two small island towns.

Of the 18 people on board, 10 were local government officials. The boat had departed Sikakap, a small town in the Mentawai Islands, and was heading to another small town, Tuapejat.

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.