JAKARTA ~ Eight people died and 30 more went missing when a boat sank off Sumatra island at the weekend, a report said.

The boat carrying 60 people went down in strong winds a kilometre off Dumai, Riau province, around 4pm as it ferried guests to a wedding, the Antara news agency reported.

It said 22 passengers had been found alive and taken to hospital.

Indonesia’s 234 million people are spread across 17,000 islands and deadly ferry accidents are common.

Up to 335 people were killed when a ferry sank off Sulawesi island in January, and in December 2006 a ferry sank in a storm off the coast of Java, killing more than 500 people.