Passenger vessel disaster in Indonesia: six people killed, search underway for 130 missing people
Kyiv • UNN
The Virgo Transport 8 vessel lost contact in the Java Sea. Six people were killed, 130 are missing, and 107 were rescued.
According to officials, at least six people have died and 130 are considered missing after a passenger vessel in Indonesia carrying more than 240 people lost contact in the Java Sea during bad weather, UNN reports, citing Sky News.
At least 107 people were rescued during a search operation launched in the area of the vessel’s last known location.
The National Search and Rescue Agency said that the Virgo Transport 8 vessel departed on Saturday from Surabaya (East Java) for the city of Banjarmasin (South Kalimantan, the island of Borneo), after which contact with it was lost.
According to the agency, 243 people, including 30 crew members, were aboard the approximately 120-meter (390-foot) vessel.
As reported by I Putu Sudayana, head of the Search and Rescue Office, the vessel’s captain had earlier reported rough seas (waves reached 3 meters in height) and later sent a distress signal, saying that the vessel had begun to list.