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 69 people still missing on the 16th day of the search.
A senior Indonesian search and rescue official on Sunday urged the ship's owner and insurer to ‘raise the ship immediately’, saying it would make the evacuation operation easier once the wreck was above the water's surface.
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.
Agency figures show 108 survivors and 69 people still missing.