Banjarmasin, Indonesia—Three passengers drowned Saturday night after a wooden passenger ferry and a high-speed transit boat collided head-on in murky waters along a major river artery in Kalimantan.
The accident occurred after sunset as visibility dropped significantly across the winding waterway channel. The speeding fiberglass vessel slammed directly into the side of the slower passenger ferry, causing the smaller craft to capsize immediately.
Local search and rescue agency (Basarnas) personnel, assisted by local fishermen, deployed rubber boats to comb the river currents for missing travelers. Divers recovered the bodies of three passengers several hundred meters downstream from the impact site.
Survivors reported that inadequate lighting on both vessels contributed to the inability of the operators to spot each other in time. Harbor master authorities temporarily suspended night-navigation permits for unregistered small craft operating along regional river routes.
Police questioned both vessel operators, who sustained minor injuries, regarding navigation safety compliance and passenger manifest accuracy. Local community leaders renewed demands for mandatory life jacket enforcement and stricter speed limits on commercial river transport.
The bodies of the victims were handed over to their families for immediate funeral arrangements following local medical examinations. Search teams concluded sweep operations as river traffic slowly returned to regulated night pacing.
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