By Rochimawati
NORTH MALUKA, Indonesia
Around 14 people died and 12 more are missing after a passenger boat with 35 people on board was struck by high waves in bad weather near islands in Indonesia's west early Sunday.
Hasan Ahmad, the Head of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), told the Anadolu Agency that the boat was carrying passengers from the village of Orifola in Falabisahaya to the City District Sula Islands in North Maluku province around 08:30 a.m. local time.
"Due to extreme weather and waves up to 3 meters high the boat capsized around half way through its journey," he said. "Of the 35 people on board, 9 survived, 14 drowned, and 12 are still missing."
A joint team from the local islands is still looking for survivors, but bad weather continues to hamper the search.
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