Indonesia ferry death toll reaches 66 as Java Sea search enters 16th day

The death toll from an Indonesian ferry that capsized in the Java Sea earlier this month rose to 66 on September 28, as divers faced leaking fuel and unstable structures while searching for 69 people still missing on the 16th day of the operation, according to The Jakarta Post.

The Virgo Transport 8 ferry was carrying 243 people, including 30 crew members and an unknown number of vehicles, when it capsized in bad weather on September 13 while travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.

Indonesia relies on ferries to connect its 17,000 islands, with sea travel cheaper and more accessible than flying, but the country has experienced numerous ferry accidents.

Divers were navigating unstable debris on the 16th day of the search, Hardiansyah Putra, a senior official from the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), said on September 28. They would aim to find the missing passengers in the cabins, he said, adding that divers were limited to a maximum depth of 27 metres.

Rescuers were expected to airlift some recovered bodies from the Java Sea by helicopter on September 28, senior Basarnas official I Putu Sudayana said on September 27.

Dozens of divers have been searching inside the 4,277-tonne vessel, facing unstable structures, side-to-side tilting and dangerously sharp objects scattered throughout the ship, Putu said. Dense gas concentrations and leaking fuel posed further health hazards.

"Because of these reasons, the divers weren't able to get into the compartments," he said, adding that the ship's operator needs to right the ship and bring it to the surface.

The high-risk conditions have slowed the search, adding to the distress of friends and relatives of those still missing.

Basarnas figures showed that 66 people had died, 108 survived, and 69 remained missing.

By Aghakazim Guliyev