Three days after the ferry KM Teratai Prima sank off the coast of Majene, West Sulawesi, it remains unclear how many of the 250 passengers survived the disaster.

Fishermen trawling in waters off Majene found two survivors Tuesday, while others working off the coast of Barru found the body of a boy. The boy's body was taken to Pare-pare General Hospital in South Sulawesi.

So far, 36 of the passengers have been rescued, although sources contradict each other as to the total death toll. Previously, an accident command post in Majene and Pare-pare announced that 35 passengers had been rescued but it later turned out one name had been counted twice.

The exact number of passengers onboard the ship is also unclear.

The vessel's manifest states there were 250 passengers onboard excluding children and infants.

However, as of Tuesday, a number of relatives reported to authorities that their relatives had been onboard but were not listed on the manifest.

Authorities at the Majene post learned that at least 25 people onboard the vessel that night were not listed on the manifest.

Majene Port Administrator, Jesaja Sarita, said his office was still working to ascertain the true numbers of survivors and victims.

Relatives continued to pour into the Majene's seaport and general hospital to seek information and look for family members.

Sahidah, 53, said she had decided to remain at the hospital as she assumed that all survivors and victims would be taken there. She was waiting to learn news about her younger brother, Baharuddin, 45, who she said had boarded the ship.

At 3:30 p.m. local time, fishermen led search and rescue workers to where they had rescued two passengers, Robertus Rahman and Marten.

The fishermen said they had caught sight of about 40 people floating on a raft when they made the rescue.

However, the search turned up no survivors.

"The current at the said location was very strong so they might have been carried away," said Majene Military District Command chief, Lt. Col. Zakariya Rahman, who leads the rescue efforts.

"We will focus our efforts on Wednesday southwards as many survivors were found south of the sinking location."

In Samarinda, one survivor, Rampa, 35, arrived at Samarinda seaport after being rescued by cargo vessel Citra Millennium, which was sailing from East Nusa Tenggara, about 160 kilometers from the suspected ferry sinking site.

Rampa was admitted to Wahab Sjahranie General Hospital.

A crew member on the cargo vessel, David, said Ramba had been taken onboard wearing only underwear as he had been signalling to the ship using his clothes as a flag.

It was reported that Rampa, like many of the survivors of the shipwreck, had survived by using a large bunch of bananas as a life raft.

Rampa rode massive waves for 20 hours in the heart of the Makassar Strait awaiting his rescue.

"We are conducting intensive examinations including taking X-rays of his lungs to search for infection caused by his swallowing too much sea water," said hospital spokesman Nurliana Adriati Noor.

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