At least 4 dead, dozens missing after ferry sinks on way to Bali

Rescuers were still racing to find missing people after the vessel carrying 65 passengers sank before midnight on Wednesday as it sailed to the popular holiday destination from Indonesia's main island Java.

"23 rescued, 4 dead," Rama Samtama Putra, Police Chief of Banyuwangi in East Java, where the boat departed, said.

The local rescue agency in the Javan city Surabaya had earlier said 61 were missing and four rescued, without giving a cause for the boat's sinking.

"The ferry's manifest data totalled 53 passengers and 12 passenger crews," it said.