2 Drowning Fishermen Found Dead In Labuan Bajo Monkey Waters NTT

The joint SAR team found two fishermen who were reported to have drowned in the waters of Monkey Island, Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) in a state of death.

"The two victims were found dead at different times on the third day of the search," said Head of Basarnas Maumere Supriyanto Ridwan who was contacted from Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai Regency, NTT, Tuesday, September 17, as reported by Antara.

He said the two victims named Ramli (31) and Udin (50) were residents of Jeneponto Regency, South Sumatra Province (Sumsel) who visited Labuan Bajo and temporarily stayed at a relative's house in Kampung Air, Labuan Bajo.

The joint SAR team, he said, found Udin's body at 06.10 WITA on Sunday, September 15. The victim's body was found floating about 305 meters from the scene.

"The victim's body was immediately evacuated to the RIB of the Labuan Bajo SAR Post to Marina Labuan Bajo Port and taken to the Komodo Hospital," he said.

Then, at around 15.30 WITA, the joint SAR team found the body of the second victim, Ramli, who was about 0.24 nautical miles from the initial location of the incident.

"The condition of the body was also found floating and immediately evacuated to the RIB of the Labuan Bajo SAR Post to Marina Harbor and Komodo Hospital," he said.

Supriyanto Ridwan also expressed his appreciation and gratitude for the hard work and efforts of the joint SAR Team in searching for the victims.

"The joint SAR team expresses their condolences to the families of the victims, may the deeds of worship of the victims be accepted by God who is Most Gracious and the family is given fortitude and does not forget the full appreciation to the joint SAR Team who has been solid and working hard to find victims. The Labuan Bajo SAR team is very extraordinary. supported by many defense equipment that was deployed for the search for the two victims," he said.

Previously, the two victims on September 15, 2024, at 04.00 WITA departed from their homes to Kampung Air Pier to look for fish in the waters north of Kanawa Island.

The families of the victims had previously headed to the location of the fish search. Because the two victims never arrived at the fish search location until 10:00 WITA, the victim's family returned to Labuan Bajo to confirm the whereabouts of the victims and received information from eyewitnesses that the boat they were traveling in hit a phinisi ship at the scene and then drowned.