66 bodies found in ferry disaster

Jakarta: Rescuers have recovered the bodies of 66 people who died after a ferry capsized in stormy seas off the coast of Indonesia.

However, more than 400 people remain missing after the Senopati Nusantara, which was travelling from Borneo to Semarang, sank on Friday night.

Survivors in Rembang, a town on the Central Java coast, said the ship started to roll over after struggling in high seas and heavy rains.

Waluyo, 53, who does not know what happened to his two children, said: "Suddenly the lights went off and it became dark. The ship's crew tossed lifejackets ... some could not get any but I got one.

"I tried to get into a rubber boat but many people also did the same thing, so the rubber boat was torn ... Finally, I grabbed the edge of another rubber boat."

Another survivor, Irfan, told local television that furniture had been flung across the ship by the big waves.

He said: "The crew told us to be calm and that nothing was going to happen. But at about 11.15pm the ship began to turn over and then capsized."