Ammon News - The death toll from an Indonesian ship that capsized earlier this month rose to 66 as of Monday, as divers braved leaking ​fuel and dangerously unsound structures to find the 69 passengers still ‌missing on the 16th day of the search.

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 early on September 13 during a voyage 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 there have been numerous accidents.

Divers were navigating ​through unstable debris on the 16th day of the search, Hardiansyah Putra, a senior official from the country's search and rescue agency, said on Monday, adding that they would ​aim to find the missing passengers in the cabins.

The divers were limited ​to a maximum depth of 27 metres, he added.

From the Java Sea where the ‌ship ⁠sank, rescuers were expected to airlift some recovered bodies using a helicopter on Monday, senior agency official I Putu Sudayana said on Sunday.

Dozens of divers swam through the 4,277-ton ship to find the missing people, trying to handle the unsound ​structures, the side to ​side tilting and ⁠the dangerously sharp objects scattered throughout the vessel, Putu said, adding that 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 challenges facing the divers have slowed ⁠the ​progress of the search, adding to the anguish ​for distraught friends and family.

The current death toll stands at 66 people, with 108 survivors and ​69 still missing, agency figures show.


Reuters