At least 1 tourist killed, dozens missing as boat capsizes in western Indonesia

JAKARTA - At least one holidaymaker was killed and dozens of others missing after a passenger boat sank in Lake Toba of Indonesia's North Sumatra province on Monday, a disaster agency spokesman said.

Kapal Motor Sinar Bangun boat carrying about around 80 people, most of them domestic visitors, capsized at 17:30 p.m. Jakarta time after leaving Simanindo port in Samosir district, spokesman of the national disaster management agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

"The incident was triggered by severe weather," Sutopo told Xinhua.

The boat sank 1.61 km away from its destination of Tigaras Parapat port of Simalungun district, said the spokesman.

So far, rescuers have rescued 19 passengers of the boat, said Riadil Lubis, head of the provincial disaster management agency.

"They were rescued by ships which were passing by near the scene," he told Xinhua via telephone from North Sumatra province.

Search and rescue operation was halted due to unfavorable weather condition and will be resumed when it improved, sadi Sri Hardianto, head of land transport agency for territory II in the province.