Indonesia ferry disaster toll reaches 66 as divers battle hazards on day 16
Death toll from the capsized Virgo Transport 8 ferry rises to 66, with 108 survivors and 69 still missing as the search enters its 16th day.
The confirmed death toll from an Indonesian ferry that capsized in the Java Sea earlier this month has climbed to 66, as search teams entered a 16th day of operations on Monday with 69 passengers still unaccounted for.
The Virgo Transport 8 went down in bad weather in the early hours of September 13 while sailing from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. It had been carrying 243 people, among them 30 crew members, along with an unspecified number of vehicles.
Agency figures list 108 survivors. Divers have been working through the 4,277-ton vessel, contending with structures that have become unstable, a side-to-side tilt, and sharp debris scattered through the interior. Leaking fuel and dense concentrations of gas have added further risks to their health and safety.
A senior official from the country's search and rescue agency said the teams were concentrating on the cabins in the hope of locating the missing passengers, and that divers were restricted to a maximum depth of 27 metres. The same official noted that the hazardous conditions had prevented divers from entering some of the ship's compartments, and said the operator would need to right the vessel and bring it to the surface.
Recovered bodies were expected to be airlifted by helicopter from the site on Monday, according to another senior agency official.
The difficult underwater conditions have slowed the operation, prolonging the ordeal for relatives and friends of those aboard.
Indonesia depends heavily on ferry links to connect its roughly 17,000 islands, with sea travel generally cheaper and more accessible than air routes. The archipelago has nonetheless recorded numerous maritime accidents over the years.