Mother and son rescued from tiny Indonesian island days after shipwreck

Rescuers in eastern Indonesia found a stranded mother and son on a remote uninhabited island after their passenger boat sank last week, with over a dozen people still missing.

The 46-year-old woman and her 24-year-old son were found stranded on Balaloho Island, one of the islands in the Selayar Island chain that is part of Indonesia.

Local media reported the mother and son pair clung to a makeshift raft before they washed up on the small island that is around a mile long.

Indonesia deployed dozens of troops to help with the search. / Credit: AP

Another group of five survivors were found clinging to a raft in open water.

A search and rescue team retrieved five survivors on Saturday evening, including a seven-year-old girl, who were clinging to a fish trap.

At least one person was confirmed dead.

The KM Nurul Salsa, which was carrying 78 passengers and crew, experienced engine failure and sank on Wednesday about 43 miles from the port in the Selayar Islands, in South Sulawesi Province.

More than 200 rescuers made up of local police, fishermen and residents joined the Indonesian army in assisting with rescue operations, said Andi Sultan, head of the emergency response in Makassar.

“Rescue teams also faced extremely harsh weather conditions, including waves as high as 2–3 meters and strong winds,” he added,

Passenger boats are a common form of transportation in Indonesia, an archipelago with more than 17,000 islands. Lax safety standards and problems with overcrowding frequently result in accidents.

The ship that sank on Wednesday officially only had 50 people on board, but it was carrying over a dozen extra passengers.