Third Day of Search for Five Missing Journalists Yields No Results as Volcanic Ash Hinders Drones

The search for five journalists and three crew members who lost contact near Mount Anak Krakatau has yet to produce results. Search teams have discovered items such as life jackets and bottles, although it remains unconfirmed whether these belong to the victims.

“From all these findings, what we have discovered are life jackets and bottles; beyond that, there are no results from these six sectors,” said the Head of the Banten Search and Rescue Office, Al Amroll, at the Joint SAR Post in Carita, Pandeglang, on Thursday (10/09/2026).

Al Amroll could not yet confirm whether the life jackets originated from the vessel carrying the journalists. His office will first conduct a formal identification process.

“We have viewed these findings together, and what has been found is currently en route to the Ciwandan pier; we will provide further updates later,” he added.

Al Amroll stated that all field teams are conducting searches around the Mount Anak Krakatau area using drones. However, these efforts are being hampered by volcanic ash.

“Yesterday, we attempted to conduct searches with drones on Sebesi Island, having initially focused around the Mount Anak Krakatau area, but that proved risky,” he said.

“For today, information from colleagues in the field using the KN SAR Tetuka drone indicates that the attempt was unsuccessful due to very thick volcanic smoke,” he added.

In today’s search, the SAR team has not yet entered the Sertung Island area. According to Al Amroll, Sertung Island remains inaccessible as it falls within the 3-kilometre danger radius of Mount Anak Krakatau.

“Sertung Island has not been reached yet because it is within the 3-kilometre radius,” he said.