Two victims of sunken vessel in Donggala Regency declared missing

Palu (ANTARA) — Two victims of the sunken vessel KLM Nur Ainun Balqis in the waters of the Makassar Strait off Donggala Regency, Central Sulawesi, have been declared missing after a seven-day search operation by a joint SAR team.

“On the seventh day of the SAR operation, the victims had not been found. At 15:45 Central Indonesian Time, the joint SAR team, together with the victims’ families and local government officials, held a deliberation and agreed to halt the search,” said Palu Search and Rescue Office Head Muh Rizal in Palu on Sunday.

He stated that following the closure of the SAR operation, monitoring would continue, and should any signs of the victims emerge, the SAR operation would be reopened. Meanwhile, the SAR elements involved would be returned to their respective units.

Seven days of searching using the KN SAR Baladewa, assisted by fishing boats and the joint SAR team, yielded no signs of the victims’ whereabouts.

“The distance between search tracks was one nautical mile heading south and west. During the search process, the team faced difficulties as the exact location where KLM Nur Ainun Balqis sank was unknown,” he said.

He explained that the joint SAR team had made every effort to conduct the search by combing through areas suspected of being relevant.

Of the five people aboard KLM Nur Ainun Balqis when it sank, three — Saharudin (47), Muh Alwi (32), and Mukain (47) — were found alive by Donggala fishermen, whilst two others, Gus Wan (47) and Adam (20), were declared missing.

KLM Nur Ainun Balqis reportedly set sail from Nunukan Port in North Kalimantan bound for Orange Port in Barru Regency, South Sulawesi, on Thursday (12 February) at approximately 02:00 Central Indonesian Time.

“During the voyage, whilst in the Makassar Strait, the vessel was struck by waves and listed until it sank. All passengers and crew jumped into the sea to save themselves,” he said.