Overcrowded boat capsizes during traditional ceremony in central Indonesia, at least 8 dead

Published January 13, 2015

An Indonesian official says an overloaded boat carrying people performing a traditional ceremony at sea has capsized in high waves, killing at least eight villagers.

Local police chief Lt. Col. Taslim Chaerudin says search teams and local fishermen rescued 34 injured people Thursday and rushed them to a nearby hospital in Central Java's town of Jepara. The wooden boat was designed to hold only 20 people.

He said more than 40 villagers were heading home from Panjang island to nearby Kartini beach after performing a ceremony to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Islamic holy month. It was unclear if others were missing.

Accidents at sea are common in Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation with more than 17,000 islands, in part because of overcrowding and poor safety standards

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