Sonar Deployed In Hunt For Indonesia Ferry Disaster Victims

Indonesian authorities Friday turned to cutting-edge sonar technology as they search one of the world's deepest lakes for victims of a deadly ferry disaster.

Simalungun, Indonesia, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jun, 2018 ) :Indonesian authorities Friday turned to cutting-edge sonar technology as they search one of the world's deepest lakes for victims of a deadly ferry disaster.

Search teams hope the equipment, on loan from Indonesia's navy, will help find the overloaded boat which sank Monday on Lake Toba, a picturesque tourist destination in Sumatra.

Just three passengers have been confirmed dead so far, while 18 were rescued.

But official estimates list 193 others -- including children -- as missing, which has raised fears that many bodies are trapped inside the ferry at the bottom of the lake.

The accident could be one of Indonesia's deadliest maritime disasters.

Despite a massive search operation involving some 400 personnel, the vessel has still not been located after four days.

Lake Toba, which fills the crater of a supervolcano that exploded in a massive eruption tens of thousands of years ago, is 500 metres (1,640 feet) deep in parts, hampering the search effort.

It covers some 1,145 square kilometres (440 square miles).