JAKARTA, Indonesia: Indonesia has extended the search and rescue (SAR) operations for victims of the ill-fated Virgo Transport 8 passenger ferry by another seven days, with 71 people still missing about two weeks after the vessel went down in the Java Sea.
Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Operations Director, Rear Admiral Yudhi Bramantyo Nur Sasongko, said the latest seven-day extension, the second since the vessel went down on September 13, came as another 11 bodies were recovered on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 64.
“We have decided that we may extend it for another seven days, but we will evaluate it every three days. So, developments will be evaluated every three days,” he told a press conference at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Saturday night.
The Virgo Transport 8, ferrying 243 people and 89 vehicles from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin, lost contact at about 2:00 am local time on September 13 and was found capsized later that day before gradually sinking, with the wreck fully submerged by September 17.
Two weeks into the operations, 172 of those on board had been found as of Saturday, comprising 108 survivors and 64 fatalities.
Of the 11 bodies recovered on Saturday, Yudhi said four were retrieved by divers from inside the sunken ferry and another seven were found along coastal areas in Central Kalimantan.
“We will remain focused on locating the missing victims while encouraging those responsible for salvaging the vessel to proceed with preparations,” he said. – BERNAMA
