Fishing Boat Finds Body Of Woman Victim Of KM Ladang Pertiwi Sink In Makassar Strait

Evacuation of victims of the KM Ladang Permai accident from above KN SAR Kamajaya (ANTARA/HO-Basarnas Sulsel)

JAKARTA - The body of the victim of KM Ladang Pertiwi 2 which sank in the waters of the Makassar Strait was finally found by the fishing boat Cahaya Baru. This ship helped search for SAR operations on the seventh day after the wooden ship accident, Thursday, May 26 yesterday.

"We received the information at 17.15 WITA that the body suspected of being a woman was found, 15 nautical miles north of Pamantauang Island or approximately 10-12 nautical miles from the location of the incident," said Head of Operations Section for Basarnas Sulsel Muhammad Rizal at the Main Post of Paotere Port Makassar, South Sulawesi, Friday 3 June evening.

For identification, the victim was taken to Pamantauang Island, Liukang Kalmas District, Pangkep Regency.

His party is still waiting from the family to see the victim's body so that it can be recognized.

"Currently (the body) is still at the puskesmas (Pamantauang Island) and immediately identification is carried out by the family who feels they have lost a family member. We are still waiting to see if the body can be identified or not," Rizal said as quoted by Antara.

When asked whether this body would be brought to Makassar for identification by the South Sulawesi Police Biddokes DVI team, because previously there were two bodies brought by the State Ship (KN) SAR Kamajaya to the Makasaar Container Pier for identification, he said, there had been no direction.

However, at this time the Basarnas ship, after delivering the two bodies, had refueled, after which it departed together with the KN Laut Kuda belonging to the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) to resume the search.

For the development of the search for the seventh day in the SAR operation, one victim's body has been found, bringing the temporary number of victims dead to four.

"Currently, out of more than 50 missing victims, 31 people were found safe. Until today and this afternoon, a total of 35 victims were found, including four people who were found dead, while the remaining 15 people are still being searched, " he said.