JAKARTA: Five journalists and three boat crew members who went missing in waters near Mount Anak Krakatau have yet to be found a week later, while police work to identify a body found on the shore of Enggano Island in Bengkulu suspected to be one of the missing.
On Tuesday, the eighth day of the search, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) deployed 20 vessels and more than 600 personnel to comb 3,962 square nautical miles of waters around Anak Krakatau and off the coast of Banten and Bengkulu provinces, amid cloudy weather.
Searches along Banten’s shoreline and nearby islands have so far yielded no results, according to Rizky Dwianto, the head of operations at Basarnas’s Banten office.
“Islands where they could potentially have docked in an emergency have all been checked,” he said on Tuesday, referring to Serung and Rakata islands, which flank Anak Krakatau in the Sunda Strait, as well as Panjang Island in Banten.
Rizky added that diving operations have been hampered due to the vast search area and the lack of information on the boat’s last known position. Basarnas’s aerial search with a helicopter on cloudy Monday also found no significant results. The search would continue for another two days.
The five journalists departed by speedboat from Banten on the afternoon of Sept 7 for a mission to capture photos and video of the eruption of Anak Krakatau, which for several days disrupted flights and blanketed several cities including Jakarta in volcanic ash.
They are Muhammad Bagus Khoirunas of state news agency Antara, Arie Basuki of Merdeka.com, Yudistiro Pranoto of iNews, Firdaus Wajidi of Turkey’s Anadolu Agency and freelance photographer Donal Husni. They were accompanied by captain Warta, crew member Surakman and tour guide Heriyanto. The boat lost contact about an hour after departing.
While the search continues, a body was found on Saturday on the shore of Enggano Island, Bengkulu’s outermost island off its west coast, about 350km northwest of the volcano. The body was taken to Bengkulu city for an autopsy. Police are also comparing its DNA with reference samples from families of the eight missing people. “We cannot yet confirm the victim’s identity or cause of death.
We are still awaiting the results of the forensic examination,” Bengkulu Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Imam Wijayanto said in a statement on Monday. No result had been announced as of Tuesday afternoon.
Previously, Banten Police also found a body near the mouth of Kali Teratai River in Banten Bay on Saturday, but confirmed it was not one of the missing journalists or crew.
Groups of journalists and members of the public held solidarity gatherings in Jakarta and several other cities on Monday, praying for the safety of the missing eight.
Following the volcano’s 25 hours nonstop eruption from Sept 5 to 6, the Geological Agency maintains its alert status at Level III, the second highest level, until further notice, with visitors prohibited from entering a 3-kilometre radius of the volcano’s crater.
While the agency reported declining volcanic activity of Anak Krakatau, it said the probability of future eruption remains high, with potential hazards including rock projectiles, heavy ashfall and lava flows. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
