Ferry in difficulty between Java and Borneo: one victim and 102 people rescued

At least one person has died and 102 have been rescued after a ferry ran into trouble due to bad weather while sailing between the Indonesian islands of Java and Borneo. This was reported by those responsible for the rescue operations, quoted by AFP. According to what the local rescue agency had communicated, there were 243 people on board the ship.

Rescue operations

"We have made every effort to search for the victims," said the local head of search and rescue operations, I Putu Sudayana. "Some passengers have already been successfully evacuated by teams on site. We can inform you that the total number of evacuated passengers is 103 people," he said. “However, one of the rescued passengers has died,” he told reporters in the port city of Banjarmasin, the ship's destination. Earlier, Indonesian maritime authorities reported losing contact with the Virgo Transport 8 ferry, with 243 people on board, as it sailed in rough weather between the city of Surabaya and another port. "We received the report of the loss of contact with the Virgo Transport 8 ship and we immediately sent agents (...) towards the last known estimated position" of the ferry, declared Sudayana, head of the search and rescue agency of Banjarmasin, a city located on the island of Borneo.

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