Sixth Day of Search, 6 Victims of ATR Aircraft Found in Bulusaraung Gorge

Debris of the AT 42-500 aircraft was found by SAR team personnel in the Gunung Bulusaraung area, Pangkep Regency, South Sulawesi, Sunday (18/1/2026) (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - TNI soldiers who are part of the Joint Search and Rescue (SAR) Team found six victims of an ATR 42-500 plane crash in the Bulusaraung Mountain area, Pangkep Regency, South Sulawesi, Thursday, January 22.

Based on the official TNI press release received in Jakarta, Friday, it was explained that the discovery of the victim was the result of a joint SAR team search since last Saturday.

"The discovery is the result of a search operation on the sixth day which was carried out in a mountainous area with a high level of difficulty," said the Head of the Information Center of the TNI Headquarters, Brigadier General TNI Aulia Dwi Nasrullah, quoted by Antara, Friday, January 23.

Aulia explained that the search activities were carried out through a follow-up search around the points that had previously been found by the joint SAR Team.

In the search process, continued Aulia, personnel faced challenges in the form of steep terrain, steep slopes, slippery surfaces, and unpredictable weather conditions, requiring intensive accuracy and coordination in the field.

On the sixth day of the search, the six plane victims were finally found by the joint SAR team.

"The victim was found with the position of the body spread in a radius of about 50 meters from the initial finding point and was at a depth of approximately 250 meters from the top of the mountain," said Aulia.

All findings were immediately secured for further evacuation process in stages. With the discovery, the number of victims who have been found so far has reached eight people, with two bodies have been evacuated and identified.