Fifth Day of Search, SAR Finds Debris of a Sinking Tourist Ship in Labuan Bajo

JAKARTA - The joint SAR team has found a ship body debris on the fifth day of searching for three victims who were lost due to a tourist boat accident in the waters of Padar Island, Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

Based on Aantara's monitoring in the waters of Padar Island, the debris of the ship's body was found by the combined SAR Team personnel floating on Tuesday morning at around 08.45 WITA.

The tourist ship KM Putri Sakinah was reported to have sunk in the waters of Padar Island, Labuan Bajo, on Friday, December 26.

The ship's body debris was then taken to the G Komodo fast boat belonging to the Jabalnusra Regional Forestry Gakkum Office.

Meanwhile, the fifth day of the search continued with a search in the mainland area on the coast of Padar Island and a search in the waters of Padar Island.

A number of professional divers dived at several points around the scene to find the three victims and the wreckage of the ship, which has not been found.

The joint SAR team previously on Saturday, December 27, also found the wreckage of the KM Putri Sakinah ship and other items such as LPG gas cylinders and life jackets.

The body of a victim was found on Monday, December 29. The body of a female victim aged 12 years old has been identified as a victim of a sinking boat.

The victims are a family consisting of a father, mother, and four children of Spanish nationality.

The semi-pinisi ship KM Putri Sakinah in the marine accident incident was carrying 11 passengers, consisting of six foreign tourists from Spain, one tour guide, and four crew members (ABK) including the ship's captain.

The joint SAR team on the day of the incident managed to evacuate seven out of a total of 11 passengers. The survivors include four crew members including the ship's captain, two tourists, and a tour guide