Five survive three days at sea as Indonesia boat sinking leaves 20+ missing
Five people — including a seven-year-old girl — have been rescued after spending three days clinging to a fish trap and floating debris off Indonesia's Sulawesi coast, according to Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/five-people-rescued-after-indonesia-boat-sinks-at-least-20-still-missing). Their boat, the KM Nurul Salsa, sank with 78 passengers and crew aboard after suffering engine failure on Wednesday.
By Source Reporters Newsdesk
Sun, 19 July 2026 · 1 min read
Five people — including a seven-year-old girl — have been rescued after spending three days clinging to a fish trap and floating debris off Indonesia's Sulawesi coast, according to Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/five-people-rescued-after-indonesia-boat-sinks-at-least-20-still-missing). Their boat, the KM Nurul Salsa, sank with 78 passengers and crew aboard after suffering engine failure on Wednesday.
The survivors — one man, three women and the girl — were found by a fishing boat near Matallang Island on Saturday and transferred to a search-and-rescue vessel, Al Jazeera reported (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/five-people-rescued-after-indonesia-boat-sinks-at-least-20-still-missing). They told rescuers they had been part of a group of 25 that was separated by strong winds during the ordeal.
A search is ongoing for at least 20 people still missing, with five large ships, a reconnaissance aircraft and a helicopter deployed, according to local search-and-rescue official Muhammad Arif Anwar, as cited by Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/five-people-rescued-after-indonesia-boat-sinks-at-least-20-still-missing). Local media reported that 47 people were rescued the day after the sinking and one person is known to have drowned.
The KM Nurul Salsa was en route from Jampea Island to the port of Benteng on Selayar Island in South Sulawesi province when it sank about 43 nautical miles (79 km) from port, Al Jazeera said (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/five-people-rescued-after-indonesia-boat-sinks-at-least-20-still-missing). Passenger boats are a common form of transport in the archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, where lax safety standards and overcrowding have repeatedly caused fatal accidents, the outlet noted, citing an earlier July ferry sinking off Bali that killed at least six and left dozens missing.
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