Searchers find three more victims of sunken ship
JAKARTA (JP): Rescue workers discovered on Sunday three more bodies from the KLM Arta Rimba, which carried 325 people on board when it sank last week near Penikek Island in West Kalimantan, an official said.
The latest discovery brought the total number of victims found from the accident to 13, while another 20 passengers, including the captain, were rescued alive.
"As of 4 p.m. Sunday, the three bodies were already on board the KRI Rencong. We did not find any victims Saturday," Suardi, an official responsible for sea traffic and transport at the port office in Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan, told The Jakarta Post by phone.
The three male victims were brought to the Dr. Sudarso Hospital in Kampung Bangka Belitung, Pontianak.
"The search will be continued as there is not yet any official order to call it off," he said.
On Friday, nine bodies were found near Penikek island, while the Navy reported that at least 19 bodies were spotted by its monitoring plane floating in the waters off Pengiki island.
AFP reported Sunday that one more body was found by KRI Siliman around midnight and has been transported to the hospital. The body had not yet been identified.
Meanwhile, private television station SCTV on Saturday quoted search and rescue officials as saying two planes involved in the search had spotted dozens of bodies.
They were scattered over a large area some 30 to 40 nautical miles from the site of the accident, the report said.
Most of the 20 survivors were rescued by a passing foreign cargo ship while another survivor was picked up by fishermen in the area four days after the boat sank.
Survivors said the boat sank because of a leaking hull and water pump failure.
The sinking of the Arta Rimba is among the worst shipping incidents in the country. In January 1996, an overloaded ferry sank in bad weather off Weh Island on the northern tip of Sumatra. Fifty-five bodies were recovered and at least 283 were never found. Only 39 people were rescued. (edt)