REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LAKE TOBA -- The government has already found the location coordinates of KM Sinar Bangun. The boat was sank in the waters of Lake Toba, North Sumatra Province, on Monday afternoon.
The search for the victims was being carried out by a joint team, consisting of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Indonesian National Military, Indonesian National Police, Regional Disaster Management Office, and other agencies.
On the sidelines of the search for victims in Lake Toba on Wednesday, Head of North Sumatra Disaster Management Office (BPBD), Riyadil Akhir Lubis, stated that the joint team continues to track the location of passengers and the sunken wooden ship. "The coordinates of the ship's existence have been found," he added.
Although the joint team has found the coordinates of the sunken ship, it has not yet found the shipwreck. In the near future, the joint team will deploy a special team, including marine troops that will dive in the waters of the coordinate.
The marine troops tracked down KM Sinar Bangun's position using special equipment to detect metals at the bottom of the waters.
"They will dive to a depth of at least 200 meters," he added.
KM Sinar Bangun, carrying dozens of passengers, reportedly capsized in the waters of Lake Toba, between Simanindo sub-district in Samosir district and Tigaras village, Dolok Pardamean sub-district, Simalungun district, North Sumatra province, on Monday at around 05:30 p.m. local time. The joint team has found 18 survivors and three victims after the search process.
Meanwhile, the captain of KM Sinar Garut has been secured by the police. The boat allegedly overloaded with 192 people while its capacity was only 43 passengers. On the other hand, the captain of KM Sinar Garut also ignored weather warning issued twice by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).