Indonesian Ferry With Over 100 Passengers Sinks, Rescuers Battle High Waves [Photos]

At least 128 passengers were missing after a ferry sank in Indonesia's Lake Toba, one of the deepest lakes in the world, on Monday evening. One person was confirmed dead.

Authorities have so far rescued 18 people.

"Many people have reported their relatives missing," Budiawan, head of the search and rescue team said adding that the rescue team moved out at 7 a.m. local time (8 p.m. EDT Monday).

"It might take time to find victims who drowned," he added. Budiawan also said some bodies might be trapped inside the sunken vessel.

"Due to bad weather and high waves, the ferry lost control. We suspect (the accident) was due to the breaking of the rudder," Riadil Lubis, head of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) for North Sumatra told EFE agency.

Authorities had earlier said at least 80 people were thought to be on board. Around 100 rescue personnel were deployed in the search. Authorities could not confirm if any foreigners were on board.

Sri Hardianto, an official at Indonesia's transport ministry, said the ferry had a capacity of only 60 passengers but might have carried 80 people and dozens of motorcycles, Bangkok Post reported.

Bad weather halted the Rescue operations for two hours and it resumed on Tuesday morning.

Lubis said the search and rescue teams are battling high waves and strong winds but are trying to wrap up the search by morning as heavy rainfall is expected in the afternoon.

“18 people survived, 1 person killed and 94 people missing from sinking KM Sinar Bangun in waters of Lake Toba until 19/6/2018, 15.30 WIB (4.30 a.m. EDT). The absence of the ship's passenger manifest causes the valid passenger number data to be determined. Evacuation is weather constrained,” Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho tweeted. “3 motor boats were deployed for evacuation of victims. But constrained high waves and weather."

A mobile phone video released by the agency showed people throwing life preservers and life jackets to several people in the water from another ferry.

Pictures from the scene show distressed relatives of missing passengers holding each other and crying as they wait for news at Tigaras Port.

"I was desperate, I was scared to death. I'm afraid my family is dead," Juwita Sumbayak, a survivor said, The Age reported.

Ferries are often overloaded much beyond capacity in Indonesia as it is the major means of transport. Indonesia witnesses more number of ferry accidents during the holiday period following the month of Ramadan when millions of people make the annual journey to their hometowns.

Earlier this month, a ferry carrying around 43 people sank off Makassar on Sulawesi Island, killing 13. In the same week, a speedboat carrying 30 passengers sank off South Sumatra, killing two.