4 Days Search For Missing Fishermen In The Waters Of Santolo Garut, Police: Still Zero

A number of officers from the joint SAR team searched for a fisherman who was missing in the waters of Garut Regency, West Java, Wednesday (5/4/2023). (ANTARA)

The joint Search And Rescue (SAR) team formed two teams to facilitate the search for a missing fisherman after falling from his boat in the waters of Santolo Beach, Garut Regency, West Java. "It is still not found, the fourth day search is still nil," said Garut Police and Air Unit Head AKP Anang Sonjaya quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, March 5. He said the team also involved Basarnas elements, the Indonesian Navy, and others, along the coast to search for the missing fisherman. The results of the land search, he said, the joint officers have not yet found the victim, M. Zet Santono (41), who at that time carried the Eternal Light Ship to search for fish in Garut waters. "The team moved along the coast from Sayang Heulang Beach to Kampung Punaga Beach, Mandalakasih Village, Pameungpeuk District," he said.The coordinator of the Tasikmalaya SAR Post Bagus Prayogo stated that the search by joint officers had not yielded any results. Victims were declared still missing in Garut waters. "The service of the Eternal Light Ship on behalf of M. Zet Santono is still in search of the joint SAR team," he said. He conveyed that the search process was carried out by forming two Search and Rescue Unit (SRU) teams, namely SRU 1 carrying out a search by ground sweeping from the starting point found the ship belonging to the victim that was stranded on Santolo Beach towards Sayan Beach 4 km. He said SRU 2 conducted a search by along the coast to Cijeruk Beach as far as 4 km. Regarding the search effort to the middle of the ocean using a boat, he said, it could not be done because the sea wave conditions were high enough and were considered to endanger the safety of the SAR team. "The sweeping in the water could not yet be carried out and will be implemented if the situation and conditions in the field allowed," he said.

The victim is known to have left for the sea alone using his ship, Saturday, April 1, to look for fish in the waters of Santolo Beach, but on Sunday morning, the victim's boat was stranded on the beach without a crew. The discovery of the unmanned ship made the fishermen suspicious that the victim had fallen while looking for fish, so the joint SAR team finally searched for the fisherman.