Search for Putri Yasmin ferry victims officially ends after 8 days

Mataram, NTB (ANTARA) - The search and rescue (SAR) operation following the Putri Yasmin ferry fire in the Lombok Strait, West Nusa Tenggara, officially concluded on its eighth day on Wednesday.

"Today's closure follows a one-day extension of the search operation," Head of the Mataram SAR Office and SAR Mission Coordinator Muhamad Hariyadi said in a statement on Wednesday.

During the eight-day SAR operation, the joint team rescued 212 passengers, while one person died.

"As of the final day of the SAR operation, four other victims remained missing," Hariyadi said.

According to him, the eight-day search involved extensive operations across three domains, air, sea, and land. The search at sea was conducted in stages, covering the Lombok Strait to Bali and extending to waters south of Java.

Meanwhile, the aerial search involved Finns SGi Air Bali helicopters, supported by the Indonesian Navy's CASSA NC212-200 (U-6215) aircraft and thermal drones.

At sea, a fleet of KN SAR vessels, KAL vessels, passenger ships, yachts, rigid buoyant boats (RBBs), and rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) was deployed simultaneously.

On land, Hariyadi said, the team searched along the coastline while providing information to fishermen and coastal communities. The team also relayed information to passing vessels through the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) Lembar.

He said all available resources had been deployed and search efforts had been optimized using the primary equipment available in the field. However, the four missing victims had yet to be found.

"As of Wednesday afternoon, the search had yielded no results, and the four victims had not been found," he said.

Although the SAR operation has officially ended, Hariyadi said the possibility of resuming the search remained open if new evidence or information emerged.

"Under the applicable regulations, we have officially concluded the SAR operation. However, this does not mean monitoring has stopped. We will continue to monitor the situation and coordinate with SAR personnel and the fishing community. If new information or signs indicating the whereabouts of the victims emerge, we will immediately resume the SAR operation," he said.

Related news: 106 passengers evacuated from burning ferry Putri Yasmin

Related news: Search expands for four missing after Lombok ship fire

Translator: Nur Imansyah, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Primayanti
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