JAKARTA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers decided Sunday evening to temporarily stop searching for over 100 people still missing after a ferry sank in the waters off Riau province of Indonesia, coordinator of the rescue mission Yasin Kosasih said.
Kosasih, who is also police chief at the province, said that the mission will resume on Monday, and the rescuers had found 15 dead bodies and salvaged 180 others.
"We stop searching for them now because it is difficult to search in the darkness. Besides, the wave is more than three meters high now and the wind is very strong," he told Xinhua from a rescuing boat along with other boats heading to the nearest town of Tanjung Balai Karimun to bring back the bodies they have found.
He said that over 100 people went missing so far. The total number of people on board, including those with tickets and those came on board without tickets, could be over 300.
The number of fatality may increase if those still missing were in the waters, as they can't hang on until Monday.
"When we arrived at the scene, many people were floating in the waters. They were weak. Several of them were dead," he said.
Kosasih said that all the survivors had been evacuated to the town for medical treatment at a local hospital.
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