Wooden ferry sinks off eastern Indonesia, 100 rescued‎, at least 4 Dead - 21st Dec 2011

A wooden ferry carrying people home for the Christmas holidays sank Wednesday in stormy weather in eastern Indonesia, officials said. Most of the 100 passengers were rescued, they said.

Four bodies were recovered from waters off the Maluku islands, including those of an 11-year-old boy and a baby, said Nus Sileti, a transportation official. Earlier reports had said at least seven people had died.

He said he did not expect the toll would climb much higher.

The ship sank close to shore after running into bad weather and rescuers were quickly on the scene, pulling survivors from the choppy waters, he said.

Indonesia, a secular nation of 240 million people, is predominantly Muslim. But there are large Christian populations, mostly in the east.

It was the second boat sinking in less than a week. Read More