Bali ferry tragedy death toll climbs to 17 as SAR effort enters tenth day

Malaysian newspaper The Star reports that the body of an adult female passenger of the ill-fated ferry Tunu Pratama Jaya was found in the waters off Indonesia's Bali province over the weekend.

The body of the deceased victim is the 17th to be recovered in the wake of the incident wherein the ferry sank off Bali while transporting over 50 passengers on July 2.

Indonesian authorities said a local fisherman pulled the woman's body out of the water approximately four kilometres off the coast of the village of Pengambengan in Bali's Jembrana district on Saturday, July 12.

The victim's remains were later transported to East Java for identification by medical examiners.

The recovery occurred at the beginning of a second three-day extension to the search and rescue (SAR) operation announced by national SAR agency Basarnas. The first three-day extension concluded on Friday, July 11, and Basarnas officials decided to extend the SAR effort by another three days.

Basarnas said the extensions were implemented for humanitarian reasons.

Of the people who were on board Tunu Pratama Jaya on the day of the tragedy, 30 survivors have been recorded while another 18 people are still missing.