Basarnas divers have recovered the bodies of two victims who were trapped inside the wreck of KM Virgo, detikNews reported on Monday. The discovery brings the confirmed death toll from the capsized vessel to at least ten, according to separate reporting by the Indonesian National Police's Media Hub.
The police's Disaster Victim Identification team from the South Kalimantan regional command has identified the tenth body recovered from the Virgo Transport 8, Media Hub | POLRI reported. Identification work on the remaining victims is continuing.
The vessel sank roughly nine days before the wreck was due to be raised, according to 20detik, which reported that salvage crews were preparing to lift the hull. Ten survivors from the Virgo 8 have arrived in Garut, West Java, where the regency government has arranged health checks and trauma recovery support, Jabarprov reported.
One survivor, Haryono, described how he stayed in a lifeboat after the ship went down until fishermen from Pati, Central Java, came to his aid, according to Kompas.com. His account is among the first detailed recollections from those who escaped the sinking.
Authorities have not yet released a full accounting of everyone who was aboard. The next developments to watch are the outcome of the wreck-lifting operation and further identifications by the DVI team.