Kemkomdigi tracks signals to find eight missing in Sunda Strait

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4 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Kemkomdigi) is working with mobile network operators and radio frequency monitoring offices to track signals from devices belonging to five journalists and three other people missing in the Sunda Strait.

Deputy Minister Nezar Patria said the ministry was coordinating with mobile operators to monitor Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) around the Sunda Strait.

“Kemkomdigi has coordinated with mobile operators. The three mobile operators have detected BTS facilities around the Sunda Strait, both in Banten and Lampung,” Patria said during an inspection of the Joint Search and Rescue Command Post in Carita, Pandeglang, Banten, on Saturday.

Monitoring was also being conducted through the Radio Frequency Spectrum Monitoring Offices in Banten and Lampung to track telecommunications signals detected in the search area, he said.

Information from mobile operators regarding telecommunications activity in the monitored area was being relayed to the search and rescue team to help determine the group’s last known location. Tracking results showed that the last communication signal was detected on September 7 on Sebesi Island, near Mount Anak Krakatau.

The group lost contact while in the Sunda Strait, where they had been carrying out journalistic duties to monitor activity at Mount Anak Krakatau. It comprised five journalists, two crew members, and a guide.

On Saturday, the fifth day of the search, authorities expanded the search area. The Banten search and rescue team, backed by Indonesian Navy personnel and water and air police units, deployed 14 vessels and a helicopter.

Kemkomdigi is also monitoring information circulating in the digital space concerning the disappearance of the journalists and other people in the Sunda Strait.

Patria urged the public to verify information circulating on digital platforms and use official information from teams directly involved in the search operation as their primary reference.