Death Toll From Sunken Indonesian Ferry Rises To 71 As Search Enters 16th Day

The death toll from the Virgo Transport 8 ferry disaster in Indonesia rose to 71 on Monday, September 28, after divers found five more bodies inside the sunken ship.

The search entered its 16th day, but divers are still having trouble reaching parts of the vessel. Fuel is leaking from the ship and there are dense gases, loose debris and sharp objects inside the wreck.

The ferry was carrying 243 people and 89 vehicles when it capsized in bad weather in the Java Sea on September 13. It was travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.

Of the 243 people on board, 108 have survived. Another 64 people are still missing.

The five bodies found on Monday were recovered by a joint diving team from the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) Special Group, the Indonesian Navy and other search and rescue teams.

Basarnas chief Mohammad Syafii said the bodies were taken ashore for identification and further handling, according to Antara news agency.

By 6 p.m. local time on Monday, authorities had accounted for 179 of the 243 people listed on the ferry’s manifest. This included the 108 survivors and 71 people who died, Syafii said.

Hardiansyah Putra, a senior official from Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, said divers were working around unstable debris inside the vessel.

The 4,277-tonne ship is still moving from side to side, I Putu Sudayana, another senior agency official, said. Sharp objects are also scattered inside the wreck.

Divers are also dealing with dense gas and leaking fuel.

“Because of these reasons, the divers weren’t able to get into the compartments,” Putu said. He added that the operator would need to right the ship and bring it to the surface before divers could reach those compartments.

The slow search has left relatives and friends waiting for news about people who are still missing.

The ship’s owner and its insurance company are working to appoint a lead salvage contractor, Heri Purwanto, head of Banjarmasin’s port authority, said.

Two companies, one from the United States and one from Britain, are being considered along with Indonesia’s PT Jasa Salvage Indonesia (Jasalindo).

The salvage contractor will be involved in dealing with the sunken vessel and helping make more parts of the wreck accessible to search teams.

References: Reuters, bristolpost