At least 14 people died and 12 others were missing in a boat sinking in Indonesia today (September 14).

Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that due to the impact of severe weather, waves up to 3m high capsized a wooden boat carrying 35 people in the waters off the Sula archipelago at 8:30 a.m. (local time).

“Of the 35 passengers, we have rescued nine, 14 have died and 12 others are still missing,” Mr. Nugroho added. A rescue team of police and military forces is searching for the missing in bad weather conditions.

All 35 passengers on board were Indonesian nationals, said local disaster management official Hasan Ahmad.

Overloading is also one of the reasons why boats in Indonesia often capsize.

"The passengers were moving from village to village but faced bad weather along the way. There were no foreigners on board. We are still trying to find the remaining passengers," Mr Ahmad told AFP.

Indonesia is a country that relies heavily on boats to travel between its 17,500 islands but has a poor record of maritime safety standards.

Just last month, a cruise ship carrying 24 people capsized off the coast while traveling from Lombok to Komodo. Fortunately, 18 foreign tourists and five Indonesians survived. The accident was also caused by bad weather.

Previously, on July 31, two consecutive boat sinkings also occurred in Indonesia on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, taking the lives of 25 people, marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

According to Khampha