Three helicopters deployed to search MV Sinar Bangun

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SIMALUNGUN -- The search of MV Sinar Bangun and its passengers continued with helicopters on Tuesday (26/6). It has been nine days since the boat capsized in Lake Toba, North Sumatra, at around 5 p.m. local time on last Monday.

Three helicopters involved in the operation. They belonged to National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) PT Japfa which manages floating net in Lake Toba, and National Police.

The three helicopters will be flown from Silangit Airport in North Tapanuli Regency. According to North Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Riyadil Akhir Lubis, helicopters were planned to be alerted at the main post.

“However, the location is less conductive,” Riyadil said.

Riyadil said the search process will be done also by deploying boats to search at Lake Toba surface. Not only equipments owned by Basarnas, the search process will also utilizes nine ships from Samosir regency, as well as boats from BPBD North Sumatra and districts/cities.

From the search process for eight days, the joint team has found a number of things that possibly belong to MV Sinar Bangun passengers. Riyadil said the findings included helmets, vehicle registration, jackets, dolls, and shoes.

“The search process has been done since 7.00 am, the weather condition is good enough, hopefully we can get best result,” Riyadil added.

MV Sinar Bangun capsized in Lake Toba, North Sumatra, at around 5 p.m. local time on last June 18. The latest development revealed that the boat carried 188 people while its capacity was only 43 passengers. Only 22 passengers have been found, with 19 of them having survived, including the captain of MV Sinar Bangun.

Earlier, scan sonar has detected objects in two locations at a depth of 490 meters in Lake Toba on Sunday (24/6) evening. The objects were detected 2 kms and 2,5 kms southwest of the port respectively. Basarnas said will ascertain the objects in the locations before taking further steps.