Jakarta  - Nine people died and at least four others were missing and feared drowned after a ferry boat sank off Indonesia's Sumatra island, media reports said Sunday.

Survivors said the ship carrying around 60 people when it went down on Saturday afternoon in strong winds a kilometre off Dumai, Riau province, as it ferried guests to a wedding, detik. com online news portal reported.

Nine bodies and 43 survivors had been rescued Sunday morning.

Rescue workers continued the search for at least four people still missing and feared drowned, said Syahrudin, the chief of the Dumai marine police.

More than 300 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. (dpa)