Basarnas divers recover two more victims from KM Virgo; SAR operations continue

Basarnas is still searching for 123 victims of the KM Virgo Transport 8 vessel, who remain missing as of the ninth day of search and rescue (SAR) operations on Monday, after Basarnas Special Group (BSG) divers discovered two deceased victims inside the sunken ship in the Java Sea this morning.

Basarnas Head Mohammad Syafii, in a statement from Banjarmast, South Kalimantan, on Monday, stated that the two male victims were found at 09:04 WITA and 09:13 WITA respectively, while the BSG diving team was conducting underwater search and diving operations.

After the two victims were recovered from within the sunken hull, they were evacuated via Helicopter HR 3601 to Syamsudin Noor Airbase in Banjarbaru at 11:20 WITA. They have since been handed over to the relevant authorities for identification and further medical handling at the hospital.

Syafii noted that the search and evacuation process continues to be carried out to the maximum extent, deploying all available personnel and resources, including both sea and air fleets, to locate the 123 victims still missing.

With the discovery of these two victims, Basarnas confirmed that as of Monday at 12:00 WITA, a total of 120 victims have been found, consisting of 108 survivors and 12 deceased. Meanwhile, the search continues for the remaining 123 individuals out of the 243 people listed on the KM Virgo Transport 8 manifest.