REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has stated that the search efforts for the victims of MV Sinar Bangun passenger ship that on Monday sank in Lake Toba, North Sumatra, will last for seven days. If deemed necessary, it will be extended to 10 days.

According to the transportation minister, the government is committed to searching for the missing victims, reforming the prevailing regulations, and investigating the relevant parties in the event of a breach of the rules. Until now, the government and related stakeholders, such as the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), Police, TNI, and provincial and district governments, have segregated tasks by forming several teams to handle the incident.

The teams are divided into: missing persons registration team for passengers, search and rescue team, fact-finding team to uncover the cause of the accident, team handling the dead and survivors, victim-returning team, and media center team.

According to the minister, the government has formed several teams, including a search team under Basarnas and a search team under the KNKT. The government has already found the coordinates of the location of MV Sinar Bangun, which sank in the waters of Lake Toba, North Sumatra Province, on Monday afternoon.

On the sidelines of the operation to search for victims in Lake Toba on Wednesday, Head of the North Sumatra Disaster Management Office Riyadil Akhir Lubis stated that the joint team has continued to track the location of passengers and the sunken ship. Although the joint team has found the coordinates of the sunken ship, it has not yet discovered the shipwreck.

MV Sinar Bangun 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 19 survivors and three victims after the search process.

Meanwhile, the captain of MV Sinar Bangun survived the incident. He has been secured by the police.

The latest development revealed that the boat carried 206 people while its capacity was only 43 passengers. The captain of MV Sinar Bangun also ignored weather warning issued twice by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

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