Latest news with #RibutEkoSuyatno
The Star
3 hours ago
- Climate
- The Star
Indonesia suspends search for 29 missing after ferry sinking because of poor visibility
GILIMANUK, (Indonesia): Indonesian authorities deployed navy ships and helicopters Friday (July 4) in the intensified search for 29 people still missing almost two days after a ferry sank near the tourist island of Bali. But the search was later suspended because of poor visibility. More than 160 rescuers including police and soldiers were involved in the search that resumed after being halted overnight because of poor visibility, said Ribut Eko Suyatno, the deputy chief of operations at the National Search and Rescue Agency. Three helicopters and a thermal drone had been involved in the search by air over the Bali Strait, while about 20 vessels and fishing boats were mobilised for the sea search, Suyatno said. As weather forecasts predict high waves and rough waters around the Bali Strait on Friday, he said at least three navy ships had been deployed. It was reported by local media that Indonesian authorities had confirmed that a vehicle linked to a Malaysian citizen was among those listed aboard the missing ferry, KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya. Suyatno, was quoted as saying that the ferry's travel manifest, which listed eight names, however, did not include any Malaysians. He said that following information received from the Malaysian Embassy, the East Java Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) was instructed to coordinate with the police to trace the registration plate of a vehicle believed to have been used by Fauzey Awang, 55, who was reportedly aboard the ferry in a tourist van when it capsized in the Bali Strait. Videos and photos released by the agency showed rescuers looking desperately from rescue boats in the waters, but no new survivors or bodies were found by Friday evening. The search was suspended Friday evening because of bad weather and poor visibility, and will resume early Saturday, Suyatno said. Suyatno told reporters late Friday that visibility was down to 3 kilometers (under 2 miles) from 10 kilometers (just over 6 miles) on Thursday because of thick fog - that coupled with waves up to 2½ meters (more than 8 feet) high and strong winds "were hampering our efforts in the second day of search.' The KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya ferry was carrying 53 passengers and 12 crew members when it sank almost a half hour after leaving Ketapang port in East Java late Wednesday for a trip of about 5 kilometers (3 miles) to Bali's Gilimanuk port. The agency released the names of 29 survivors and six people confirmed dead late Thursday. But Suyatno revised the survivors to 30 after a male passenger who was initially reported missing went straight home, and only reported himself to authorities on Friday. According to the passenger manifest, 29 people still were missing by Friday evening. Survivors were being treated at Bali's Jembrana Regional Hospital, while distraught relatives gathered at the port office in Gilimanuk on Friday, hoping for news of missing family members. Television reports showed relatives wailing as they received the body of their loved ones in a handover ceremony at the hospital. One of them was Bintang Nur Hidayat, who lost his wife, Nindi Elly Rosita, whom he had married two weeks ago. "Please forgive me Nindi," Hidayat said, weeping in his relatives arms. "I can't take care of you, please forgive me.' His father, Achmad, told reporters, while his 27-year-old son cried next to him, how the newlyweds, who were on their way to honeymoon in Bali, jumped off together when the ferry began to sink. "However, the rapid sinking of the ship had created a huge wave that caused his wife to slip from his grasp,' said Achmad, who goes by a single name. He quoted his son as saying that Hidayat kept calling out his wife's name, even as he was being lifted into a lifeboat, and ended up finding "his wife's body in the hospital.' Indonesian authorities are investigating the cause of the sinking. Some survivors told rescuers there appeared to be a leak in the engine room of the ferry, which was carrying 22 vehicles including 14 trucks. But a survivor, Bejo Santoso, in an interview with Metro TV, believed that high waves and strong currents caused the sinking. "The high waves hit the ferry several times, causing the vessel to roll to the left when it was halfway to Gilimanuk,' said Santoso, who was traveling alone to Bali. He recalled how trucks, buses and other cars immediately fell and piled up on the left side of the ferry, and within less than five minutes, the ship sank. "It all happened so fast that there was not enough time for the crew to issue instructions,' Santoso said, adding that there were a lot of life jackets in the ferry, but in such a short time, only the people on the outer deck could reach them, including him. He said he immediately threw one overboard before jumping into the sea. "I didn't get to wear a life jacket on board, but held it as a floating tool for hours at sea until a fisherman rescued us early morning with his boat,' Santoso said. He estimated that only half of the people onboard were able to jump into the sea, some with life jackets and others with two lifeboats. He floated for more than six hours in choppy waters along with three other male passengers, but one of them, who claimed to be suffering from lung disease, died after almost four hours of floating, "due to panic and drinking too much sea water,' Santoso said. The group of three kept the man's body with them until they were rescued. Ferry tragedies occur regularly in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, with weak enforcement of safety regulations often to blame. Fifteen people were killed after a boat capsized off Indonesia's Sulawesi in 2023, while another ferry sank in rough seas near Bali in 2021, leaving seven dead and 11 missing. In 2018, an overcrowded ferry sank with about 200 people on board in a deep volcanic crater lake in North Sumatra province, killing 167 people. In one of the country's worst recorded disasters, an overcrowded passenger ship sank in February 1999 with 332 people aboard. There were only 20 survivors. - Agencies
New Straits Times
9 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Ferry tragedy: Six dead including child, 29 still missing as Indonesian rescuers widen search
GILIMANUK, Indonesia: Hundreds of Indonesian rescuers widened their search for dozens of missing people Friday after a ferry sank in rough seas on the way to the resort island of Bali, with six bodies recovered. The ferry carrying at least 65 people, including passengers and crew, was making a five-kilometre (3.2-mile) crossing from eastern Java island to Bali when it tilted and sank in bad weather late Wednesday, witnesses and officials said. As of Friday evening, 29 people were still missing, national search and rescue operations official Ribut Eko Suyatno told reporters, confirming the death toll remained at six. He said rescuers confirmed a discrepancy in earlier figures where two survivors were considered to be one person due to similar names on the ferry's manifest. "30 people are safe... 29 people are currently being searched for," Ribut said, lowering the number of missing by one. Rescuers said one of the six found dead was a three-year-old boy. Tearful survivors described their horror when the ship went down, including one man who lost his wife. "I was joking around with my wife. And then... the ferry tilted. The accident was very fast," Febriani, who like many Indonesians has one name, told AFP late Thursday. "I resigned my fate... and asked God to save my wife. It turned out... my wife died but I survived," said the 27-year-old, welling up with tears. "I jumped with my wife. I managed to get back up but my wife slipped away." Rescuers carried out searches by sea and air on Friday, expanding their efforts along the coastlines of eastern Java and Bali, Ribut told reporters earlier Friday. "The land search rescue unit... we ask to comb through the Ketapang beach from north to south. Also likewise for Gilimanuk," he said. The ferry passage from Java's Ketapang port to Gilimanuk port on Bali – one of the busiest crossings in the country – takes around one hour and is often used by people travelling between the islands with a car. Local rescue officials said the KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya vessel sank 25 minutes into its journey. At least 306 rescuers were deployed Friday for the search effort, the Java-based Surabaya search and rescue agency said. The search for those missing will be suspended Friday evening and resume on Saturday, a Surabaya rescue officer told AFP. The search was temporarily halted overnight Thursday and resumed around 8am (0000 GMT) Friday in Bali. Rescuers had deployed inflatable boats, larger rescue vessels and a helicopter to aid the search on Thursday, made up of dozens of personnel, including navy and police officers. At least four survivors were found early on Thursday after saving themselves by climbing into the ferry's lifeboat. Initial search efforts were hampered by bad weather, with waves as high as 2.5 metres (8 feet) and strong winds. The ferry's manifest showed 53 passengers and 12 crew members but it is common in Indonesia for the actual number of passengers on a boat to differ from that document. Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago nation of around 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards and sometimes due to bad weather. In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, killing an Australian woman and injuring at least one other person. In 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world's deepest lakes on Sumatra island.--AFP
Observer
14 hours ago
- General
- Observer
Indonesian rescuers widen search for missing after ferry sinks
GILIMANUK: Hundreds of Indonesian rescuers widened their search for dozens of missing people on Friday after a ferry sank in rough seas on the way to the resort island of Bali, with six bodies recovered. The ferry carrying at least 65 people, including passengers and crew, was making a five-kilometre crossing from eastern Java island to Bali when it tilted and sank in bad weather late Wednesday, witnesses and officials said. As of Friday evening, 29 people were still missing, national search and rescue operations official Ribut Eko Suyatno told reporters, confirming the death toll remained at six. He said rescuers confirmed a discrepancy in earlier figures where two survivors were considered to be one person due to similar names on the ferry's manifest. "30 people are safe... 29 people are currently being searched for," Ribut said, lowering the number of missing by one. Rescuers said one of the six found dead was a three-year-old boy. Tearful survivors described their horror when the ship went down, including one man who lost his wife. "I was joking around with my wife. And then... the ferry tilted. The accident was very fast," Febriani, who like many Indonesians has one name, said late on Thursday. "I resigned my fate... and asked God to save my wife. It turned out... my wife died but I survived," said the 27-year-old, welling up with tears. "I jumped with my wife. I managed to get back up but my wife slipped away". Members of a marine police unit are seen during the search for missing victims, Bali. — AFP Rescuers carried out searches by sea and air on Friday, expanding their efforts along the coastlines of eastern Java and Bali, Ribut told reporters earlier on Friday. "The land search rescue unit... we ask to comb through the Ketapang beach from north to south. Also likewise for Gilimanuk," he said. The ferry passage from Java's Ketapang port to Gilimanuk port on Bali — one of the busiest crossings in the country — takes around one hour and is often used by people travelling between the islands with a car. Local rescue officials said the KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya vessel sank 25 minutes into its journey. At least 306 rescuers were deployed on Friday for the search effort, the Java-based Surabaya search and rescue agency said. The search for those missing will be suspended on Friday evening and resume on Saturday, a Surabaya rescue officer said. The search was temporarily halted overnight on Thursday and resumed around 8:00 am (00:00 GMT) on Friday in Bali. Rescuers had deployed inflatable boats, larger rescue vessels and a helicopter to aid the search on Thursday, made up of dozens of personnel, including navy and police officers. At least four survivors were found early on Thursday after saving themselves by climbing into the ferry's lifeboat. Initial search efforts were hampered by bad weather, with waves as high as 2.5 metres and strong winds. The ferry's manifest showed 53 passengers and 12 crew members but it is common in Indonesia for the actual number of passengers on a boat to differ from that document. Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago nation of around 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards and sometimes due to bad weather. In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, killing an Australian woman and injuring at least one other person. In 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world's deepest lakes on Sumatra island. — AFP
Daily Mirror
16 hours ago
- Climate
- Daily Mirror
Sunken ship heartbreak as rescue police issue new update on 28 missing people
Navy ships and helicopters were deployed in a bid to locate the 29 people who are still missing following this week's ferry incident in Bali - but the search was suspended Indonesian authorities have issued an update on their rescue mission two days after a ferry sank near the tourist island of Bali. On Friday, navy ships and helicopters were deployed in a bid to locate the 29 people who are still missing. More than 160 rescuers including police and soldiers were involved in the search that resumed after being halted overnight because of poor visibility, said Ribut Eko Suyatno, the deputy chief of operations at the National Search and Rescue Agency. However, the search was later suspended once again because of poor visibility. Three helicopters and a thermal drone had been involved in the search by air over the Bali Strait, while about 20 vessels and fishing boats were mobilized for the sea search, Mr Suyatno said. As weather forecasts predict high waves and rough waters around the Bali Strait on Friday, he said at least three navy ships had been deployed. Videos and photos released by the agency showed rescuers looking desperately from rescue boats in the waters, but no new survivors or bodies were found by Friday evening. The search was suspended on Friday evening because of bad weather and poor visibility, and will resume early on Saturday, Mr Suyatno said. He told reporters late Friday that visibility was down to 3km (under two miles) from 10km (just over six miles) on Thursday because of thick fog - and added that the fog, coupled with waves up to 2m (more than eight feet) high and strong winds "were hampering our efforts in the second day of search." The KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya ferry was carrying 53 passengers and 12 crew members when it sank almost a half hour after leaving Ketapang port in East Java late on Wednesday for a trip of about 5km (three miles) to Bali's Gilimanuk port. The agency released the names of 29 survivors and six people confirmed dead late on Thursday. But Mr Suyatno revised the survivors to 30 after a male passenger who was initially reported missing went straight home, and only reported himself to authorities on Friday. According to the passenger manifest, 29 people still were missing by Friday evening. Survivors were being treated at Bali's Jembrana Regional Hospital, while distraught relatives gathered at the port office in Gilimanuk on Friday, hoping for news of missing family members. Television reports showed relatives wailing as they received the body of their loved ones in a handover ceremony at the hospital. One of them was Bintang Nur Hidayat, who lost his wife, Nindi Elly Rosita, whom he had married two weeks ago. "Please forgive me Nindi," Hidayat said, weeping in his relatives arms. "I can't take care of you, please forgive me." His father, Achmad, told reporters, while his 27-year-old son cried next to him, how the newlyweds, who were on their way to honeymoon in Bali, jumped off together when the ferry began to sink. "However, the rapid sinking of the ship had created a huge wave that caused his wife to slip from his grasp," said Achmad, who goes by a single name. He quoted his son as saying that Hidayat kept calling out his wife's name, even as he was being lifted into a lifeboat, and ended up finding "his wife's body in the hospital". Indonesian authorities are investigating the cause of the sinking. Some survivors told rescuers there appeared to be a leak in the engine room of the ferry, which was carrying 22 vehicles including 14 trucks. But a survivor, Bejo Santoso, in an interview with Metro TV, believed that high waves and strong currents caused the sinking. "The high waves hit the ferry several times, causing the vessel to roll to the left when it was halfway to Gilimanuk," said Santoso, who was traveling alone to Bali. He recalled how trucks, buses and other cars immediately fell and piled up on the left side of the ferry, and within less than five minutes, the ship sank. "It all happened so fast that there was not enough time for the crew to issue instructions," Mr Santoso said, adding that there were a lot of life jackets in the ferry, but in such a short time, only the people on the outer deck could reach them, including him. He said he immediately threw one overboard before jumping into the sea. "I didn't get to wear a life jacket on board, but held it as a floating tool for hours at sea until a fisherman rescued us early morning with his boat," Mr Santoso said. He estimated that only half of the people onboard were able to jump into the sea, some with life jackets and others with two lifeboats. He floated for more than six hours in choppy waters along with three other male passengers, but one of them, who claimed to be suffering from lung disease, died after almost four hours of floating, "due to panic and drinking too much sea water," Mr Santoso said. The group of three kept the man's body with them until they were rescued. Ferry tragedies occur regularly in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, with weak enforcement of safety regulations often to blame. Fifteen people were killed after a boat capsized off Indonesia's Sulawesi in 2023, while another ferry sank in rough seas near Bali in 2021, leaving seven dead and 11 missing. In 2018, an overcrowded ferry sank with about 200 people on board in a deep volcanic crater lake in North Sumatra province, killing 167 people. In one of the country's worst recorded disasters, an overcrowded passenger ship sank in February 1999 with 332 people aboard. There were only 20 survivors.
Toronto Star
18 hours ago
- General
- Toronto Star
Indonesia suspends search for 29 missing after ferry sinking because of poor visibility
GILIMANUK, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities deployed navy ships and helicopters Friday in the intensified search for 29 people still missing almost two days after a ferry sank near the tourist island of Bali. But the search was later suspended because of poor visibility. More than 160 rescuers including police and soldiers were involved in the search that resumed after being halted overnight because of poor visibility, said Ribut Eko Suyatno, the deputy chief of operations at the National Search and Rescue Agency.
