Eight more bodies recovered following Indonesia ferry disaster

An official of Indonesia’s Basarnas national search and rescue (SAR) agency has confirmed that the bodies of eight additional deceased individuals have been recovered in the aftermath of a ferry capsizing incident that occurred earlier this week.

The victims have been identified as among the 13 people who were initially declared missing after the passenger ferry Cahaya Arafah capsized and sank in bad weather off Ternate Island in North Maluku province on the evening (local time) of Monday, July 18.

Officials said earlier that SAR teams and some Good Samaritan boat crews picked up 64 survivors and found a deceased female in the surrounding waters on Wednesday, July 20. The female has since been identified as a passenger on the ill-fated ferry, which was en route to Halmahera Island when the incident occurred.

The additional eight bodies were recovered as the SAR effort lasted well into Thursday, July 21.

No trace has yet been found of the four other people who were on board the ferry when it capsized.