SAR Team Finds Tigas Bodies In Mahakam River After Ship Exploded In Samarinda

Fire of ships in Samarinda, Thursday, February 11 (Ist)

SAMARINDA - The joint SAR team found three bodies a day after the ship exploded at the PT Barokah Galangan Perkasa shipyard on Pulau Atas, Sambutan, Samarinda, East Kalimantan.

The third body was found by the joint SAR team in the waters of the Mahakam River in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, on Friday evening and is suspected of being one of the victims of the tanker explosion.

Head of Department of Ops and Standby for Class A Search and Rescue Office (KPP) Balikpapan Melkianus Kotta said the bodies were found in the waters of the Mahakam River in front of the Samarinda Islamic Center Mosque.

"One body was found in front of the Islamic Center Samarinda Mosque. The identity of the victim is not yet known," he said as quoted by Antara, Friday, February 12.

Based on the testimony of the witness and the families of the victims of Laka MOB (Ship) in Mangkupalas Samarinda Seberang, the bodies are not their families who have been missing since three days ago.

Previously, the joint SAR team and residents had also found two bodies suspected of being victims of the tanker explosion.

One body was found by the joint SAR team in the waters of the Mahakam River on Friday at around 11:15 WITA in the Kutai Lama area, Kutai Kartanegara.

Meanwhile, one other body was found by residents at the scene of the explosion with a broken leg and arm, which was recognized by a man named Gunawi, on Thursday, February 11, night or a few hours after the exploding ship was successfully extinguished.

Until now, three bodies have been found, after the explosion of the ship at the PT Barokah Galangan Perkasa shipyard in Pulau Atas Village, Sambutan District, Thursday, February 11.

In this incident, three workers were reported missing.

Previously, the Samarinda City Police Chief AKP Aldy Ardya Satya said that his party was still searching for the three workers who were at the scene at the time.

"We are still searching, whether they were lost due to the explosion or returned home before the fire broke out, we are still waiting for further information," said Aldy.

However, representatives of the company PT Barokah Perkasa denied that any of their workers were victims of the incident. PT Barokah Perkasa Khairuddin corporate management said there had been no reports of casualties, especially from PT Barokah Perkasa employees after the incident occurred.

Regarding the discovery of a corpse floating in the Mahakam River by the SAR team, Kharuddin said that before the incident the ship caught fire there had been reports of residents missing in the waters of the Mahakam River near the location where the boat caught fire.

"Therefore, we are not sure whether the drowning victim was the victim of our burning ship or some other incident. We fully leave the investigation of this incident to the police," said Khairuddin.