Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan (ANTARA) – The joint search and rescue (SAR) team recovered 10 bodies from the sunken Virgo Transport 8 ferry in the Java Sea on Friday, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) said.
Following the recovery of the 10 victims, Basarnas confirmed that 160 victims had been accounted for by the 13th day of the SAR operation on Friday, comprising 108 survivors and 52 fatalities. A total of 83 people remained missing out of the 243 listed on the ferry’s manifest.
Basarnas Chief Mohammad Syafii said in a statement on Friday that five victims were recovered by joint divers from the sunken wreckage. They were then evacuated to KN SAR Kamajaya and KRI Gusti Ngurah Rai before being airlifted by helicopter HR-3601 to Syamsudin Noor Air Force Base.
In addition, the joint SAR team found five victims in Central Kalimantan, including three near PT Kumai Sentosa Sungai Cabang in Sukamara District and two in Sandurian, Seruyan District.
The victims were evacuated to Sukamara Regional Hospital and will be transferred to Bhayangkara Hospital in Banjarmasin for further handling.
This brought the total number of victims recovered as of 12 p.m. Central Indonesia Time (WITA) on Friday to 10, all of whom had died.
Syafii said the search operation remained ongoing through diving, surface sweeps, and aerial searches, with all available SAR resources deployed.
“We continue to deploy all available resources. Every piece of information and finding in the field will be immediately followed up. Our main focus is to locate the victims who remain missing and provide reassurance to their families,” he said.
On Friday, Basarnas and the Indonesian Navy deployed 54 divers to strengthen the search and rescue operation, dividing the personnel into several diving sorties.
Basarnas Operations Director Commodore Yudhi Bramantyo Nur Sasongko said the force consisted of 35 existing divers and an additional 19 Indonesian Navy divers to support the underwater search.
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Translator: Tumpal Andani, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Primayanti
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