Four Australians, two Indonesians survived, one still mission

Rescuers said the four Australians paddling on their surfboards and two Indonesians were found alive in the sea off Indonesia's west on Tuesday, nearly two days after their boat was hit by bad weather, but one Indonesian remains missing.

Two boats carrying a total of 17 people left Nias island for the private island of Pinang on Sunday.

But one of the boats, which carried the four Australians and three Indonesians, failed to arrive, prompting authorities to launch a search-and-rescue operation Monday.

Marine accidents occur frequently in the Southeast Asian archipelago nation of around 17,000 islands, where people rely on ferries and small boats to travel despite poor safety standards.

In 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world's deepest lakes on Sumatra.