Death Toll from KM Nurul Salsa Sinking Rises to Four

The death toll from the sinking of the KM Nurul Salsa has risen again. A joint SAR team successfully evacuated an additional body northeast of Matallang Island, in the Sabalana Islands group, Flores Sea, Pangkajene and Islands Regency (Pangkep), South Sulawesi, on Thursday (23/7).

The Head of the Operations and Alert Section at the Makassar Basarnas Office, Andi Sultan, confirmed that the male body was found by the RIB KN SAR Pacitan team approximately 100 metres from the shoreline. “The body has been evacuated and taken to the KN SAR Pacitan for further handling,” said Andi Sultan.

Relevant authorities are still coordinating the handover location for the body to undergo the identification process. It has not yet been decided whether the body will be taken directly to Makassar or evacuated first to the Benteng Post in the Selayar Islands Regency.

In addition to the new discovery, Basarnas has also updated the passenger manifest data for the KM Nurul Salsa. Based on the latest investigation, the total number of passengers, originally recorded as 78, has now been corrected to 76. Andi Sultan explained that this change occurred because two names were recorded twice. Furthermore, one name on the manifest was confirmed to have cancelled their trip before the vessel set sail.

With this data update, the current breakdown of the KM Nurul Salsa victims is as follows: Regarding the deceased, two bodies found earlier on the seventh day of the operation are still undergoing identification by the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) Team from the South Sulawesi Police Medical and Health Division. One of the bodies was found wearing a KM Nurul Salsa life jacket, while the other was found in an incomplete state. “As long as the victims’ identities cannot be confirmed, we will continue the search for the 15 victims still declared missing,” Andi Sultan stressed.

The SAR operation is now focused on sweeping the Sabalana Islands and surrounding areas. The search strategy is continuously being adjusted based on analysis of sea currents, which indicate the potential for drifting objects to move into a wider area. The SAR team is also actively coordinating with fishermen and coastal communities to accelerate the discovery of other victims.