Update on KM Virgo Victims: 19 Dead, 116 Still Missing
The joint Search and Rescue (SAR) team has discovered another victim of the KM Virgo Transport 8 incident, which involved the vessel capsizing in the Masalembo waters of the Java Sea.
The victim, a male, was found by fishermen on Tuesday (22/9) at 15:56 WIB at coordinates 3°33’6.34”S 111°41’33.69”E. The deceased will be transported to Bhayangkara Hospital in Banjarmasin for identification.
As of Wednesday (23/9), a total of 127 victims have been located, comprising 108 survivors and 19 fatalities. Meanwhile, 116 individuals remain missing from the total manifest of 243 people.
Head of Basarnas, Air Marshal Mohammad Syafii, stated that search operations will continue with the deployment of all available resources. “We will continue to exert our maximum effort to find the victims. Every piece of information and field finding will be followed up, because for the families, every victim found represents hope for certainty,” Syaf_ii said in a statement on Wednesday.
In today’s search operation, the KN SAR Pacitan moved towards the scene of the incident at 06:20 WITA with 97 personnel. Previously, diving equipment and a rubber boat were loaded from the TB Jaya Dragon to support the search efforts.
KM Virgo Transport 8 was reported to have lost contact in the Java Sea waters on Sunday (13/9) at 02:00 WITA, while sailing from Surabaya to Banjarmasin since Saturday (12/9). The vessel, carrying 243 people, is suspected to have lost contact due to severe weather. The ship was found on the same day in a capsized condition.
During Tuesday’s search operation, divers from Basarnas and the Indonesian Navy successfully gained access to the interior of the KM Virgo. “The joint diving team has successfully opened access by breaking the glass windows in several cabins,” said the Head of the Banjarmasin Class A Search and Rescue Office, I Putu Sudayana, during a press conference on Tuesday night.
Sudayana noted that the joint diving team attempted to survey the interior of the ship on Tuesday. He mentioned that several victims trapped inside the vessel have already been sighted.
However, due to murky water conditions caused by strong sea currents, surveying and evacuation efforts could not yet be carried out. Sudayana expressed hope that weather and sea current conditions would improve on Wednesday to allow for maximum sweeping and evacuation processes.
“The team will be able to carry out more evacuation processes underwater, within the hull of the ship, particularly in the compartments, specifically in the passenger cabins, both economy and executive classes,” he said.
“Currently, the search is focused below the surface, specifically within the area of the ship’s hull. We are focusing there because we have already found many passengers trapped inside the ship; our current focus remains on the cabins,” he added.