Indonesian ferry survivor given up for dead by family

The grief-stricken family of Indonesian ferry sinking survivor Suriani was so sure he had perished that they held a religious ritual to pray for his soul.

But the father of one was among 15 people who were plucked from the sea by a cargo ship on Sunday after drifting on a life raft for nine days more than 480 kilometers from where their ferry sank in the Java Sea in huge seas.

One of them, an 18-year-old man, died hours after being rescued.