JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Rescuers are searching the choppy waters off Indonesia's Sumatra island for more than 20 passengers still missing after a ferry sank in a storm on Sunday.
Officials say rescuers managed to pull 254 survivors from the sea. At least 29 others drowned.
High waves have hampered the rescue effort. But police patrols and navy warships set out in the lashing rain at first light Monday.
A survivor says it all happened so fast that there was no warning and some passengers jumped overboard without life jackets. He says he had to break a window to get off the sinking boat, before being plucked from the sea by fishermen.
Indonesian ferry accidents have killed hundreds of people in recent years. The boats are often overcrowded, and safety regulations are poorly enforced.
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<<CUT …130 (11/22/09)>> 00:09 "have been rescued"
Julia Zappei (zap-EYE')
AP correspondent Julia Zappei reports that an Indonesian ferry has sunk in rough waters off Sumatra island.
<<CUT …131 (11/22/09)>> 00:08 "in thirty minutes"
Julia Zappei (zap-EYE')
AP correspondent Julia Zappei reports the ferry sank rapidly in dangerous weather conditions.
<<APPHOTO DA101 (11/22/09)>>
: A sinking ferry survivor is seen floating on the sea before being rescued off Karimun island, Indonesia on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009. Rescuers saved more than 240 people aboard an Indonesian passenger ferry that sank Sunday in rough waters off Sumatra island, officials said. Search operations were called off after nightfall for the unknown number of passengers still missing.
<<APPHOTO DA106 (11/22/09)>>
: Rescuers carry the body of a victim from a sinking ferry, at Tanjung Balai Karimun port in Indonesia, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009. Rescuers saved more than 240 people aboard an Indonesian passenger ferry that sank Sunday in rough waters off Sumatra island, but at least 25 people have died, officials said. Search operations were called off after nightfall for the unknown number of passengers still missing.
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