05 March 2016•Update: 06 March 2016
By Ainur Rohmah
TUBAN, Indonesia
Indonesian rescue teams have found dead five victims who were reported missing after a ferry capsized between the islands of Bali and Java, officials said Sunday.
A naval commander at Java’s Banyuwangi Regency said that a body recovered from the bridge of the Rafelia 2 was believed to be that of the vessel’s captain.
"He had been positioned behind the wheel, [and] until the end of his life was still in control," Detik.com quoted Wahyu Endriawan saying.
According to police data, 76 passengers and crewmembers have been rescued since the accident Friday in the Bali Strait, while five others were found dead—including a mother and her 18-month-old son.
Teams, however, continued searching Sunday for any passengers who may not have been reported missing.
"We're going to search until an unspecified time. Because there are fears that there are other victims unreported," Endriawan said.
Bastoni Purnama, Banyuwangi police chief, said Sunday that authorities were investigating the cause of the accident as well as the discrepancy between data on the manifest and the number of people found, Kompas.com reported.
According to the manifest, the ferry had been carrying 25 vehicles and 18 passengers.
"We've questioned 20 people, consisting of 15 passengers who survived and 5 boat crew," Detik.com quoted him saying.
According to investigation results so far, police suspect that overloading could have led to the sinking and that the vehicles on board may not have been fastened properly.
"There are allegations of overloading,” Purnama said, adding that police were cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Committee to investigate the accident.
Indonesia's waterways serve as a widespread form of transportation in some areas of the country, where accidents resulting from overcrowded boats and lax safety standards are common.
