Rescue search yields five more bodies from ferry disaster<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Search and Rescue team has found the bodies
\nof five more victims from the Kaltimas II ferry, which sank with
\nover 70 passengers off the coast of Bali on Tuesday night,
\nbringing the death toll to 15.<\/p>\n
The team, comprising 200 rescuers from the Indonesian Navy,
\nvolunteers and local fishermen, has found 40 of the passengers,
\nincluding the total of 15 deceased victims, in the coastal areas
\nof Pengambengan, Muncar and Banyuwangi, in East Java, as well as
\nin Pebuahan, Bali.<\/p>\n
It has also managed to identify six of the bodies, including
\nthat of the captain of the boat, Sunaryo, 50.<\/p>\n
The team, using seven ships, will continue the search until
\nnext week, a spokesman said.<\/p>\n
Official data indicate the ferry, which went down in storm-
\nstricken seas between Ketapang in East Java and Gilimanuk, 125
\nkilometers west of Denpasar, carried 62 passengers.<\/p>\n
Made Sudhiarta, the Gilimanuk port spokesman, said the actual
\nfigure could have been 80 because of the possibility of illegal
\npassengers being on the boat.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the owner of the ferry, Sartono, said the boat was
\nnot overloaded when it sank. At its maximum capacity it could
\ncarry 12 big trucks, the Antara news agency reported him as
\nsaying.<\/p>\n
The vessel was only carrying six trucks, two containers and a
\nJawa Baru fleet bus with 32 passengers at that time.<\/p>\n
Sartono issued the statement in response to allegations that
\nthe accident occurred because of negligence. The head of Bali's
\ntransportation office earlier said the ferry was months overdue
\nfor routine maintenance.<\/p>\n
Sartono said the 275 gross-ton vessel of the Landing Craft
\nTank type was powered by two (165 PK) engines. He emphasized that
\nthe ship went down in a storm.<\/p>\n
The vessel made a distress call to the port at 9:30 p.m. local
\ntime. The crew said the ferry was swamped with water from high
\nwaves.<\/p>\n
Officers immediately launched a rescue operation but were
\nhampered by the rough seas.<\/p>\n
Head of the rescue team, Lt. Col. Rasidi, said the boat
\nappeared to have drifted five miles into the southern area of
\nGilimanuk before it sank.<\/p>\n
"It might have drifted even further, up to 10 miles away from
\nthe place it sank," he said, adding that the missing passengers
\nmight have been carried out into the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n
The suspected site of the shipwrecked boat is 40 to 60 meters
\nunder the surface of the sea in an area where the waves are
\naround four meters high, Rasidi said.<\/p>\n
The loss of the ferry has caused a back-up of vehicles at both
\nthe Ketapang and Gilimanuk ports.<\/p>\n
Antara reported yesterday that up to two-kilometer long lines
\nof trucks were jamming the ports because priority was being given
\nto buses and privately owned cars.<\/p>\n
Of the 14 ferries serving the crowded route, only eight are
\nnow running, spokesman Sudhiarta said.<\/p>\n
He said three of the vessels have joined the Navy in the
\nsearch for survivors, while the others are being repaired.<\/p>\n
Ferries are the cheapest and most popular form of
\ntransportation linking Java and Bali, as well as many other
\nislands. (prs)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rescue-search-yields-five-more-bodies-from-ferry-disaster-1447893297",
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