Jakarta, Jan 29 : A speedboat carrying 16 people sank in the waters off Indonesia's North Kalimantan province, a senior local rescuer said on Wednesday.

The speedboat went down near the waters of Sei Menggaris sub-district in Nunukan regency at midday on Wednesday after departing from a seaport in Nunukan city, capital of the regency, according to Syahril, head of the provincial search and rescue office.

"The incident occurred at midday today. Four people were killed. We have evacuated eight people safely and are still searching for four others who remain missing," he told Xinhua news agency via phone.

Syahril said that the survivors had been taken to a hospital and a nearby post around the seaport in the sub-district for medical treatment. The speedboat's captain has been detained at a police station for questioning regarding the incident, he added.

The search and rescue operation for the missing passengers is ongoing, involving the police, soldiers, personnel from the search and rescue office, the local disaster management and mitigation agency, and volunteers.

According to the local disaster management and mitigation agency, the speedboat was struck by large waves.

North Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia on the island of Kalimantan with a population of approximately 0.6 million people. It is approximately 7.5 million hectares in total area, of which 4.5 million hectares is forest area.

In another incident on Tuesday, as many as 13 students were swept away by waves at Drini Beach in Gunung Kidul regency in Yogyakarta, with four of them being reported dead and the others hospitalised, reported leading Indonesian daily Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

"A group consisting of 261 students and 16 teachers arrived at the beach at around 6 am and immediately began to swim. But soon after, scores of the students were swept away by the high waves," the report mentioned.

/IANS