Indonesia searches for 140 people after losing contact with vessel
In Indonesia, rescuers are searching for 140 people from the passenger vessel Virgo Transport 8, which lost contact in the Java Sea during bad weather. Earlier, 103 people were evacuated from the vessel, one of whom died, The Guardian reports.
The vessel was heading to Banjarmasin
Virgo Transport 8 departed on Saturday from Surabaya in East Java for the city of Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. There were more than 240 people on board the vessel. Contact with it was lost at around 02:00 on Sunday.
The vessel operator informed authorities about the incident after receiving information that the vessel had encountered adverse weather conditions. The Banjarmasin rescue service received the report two hours after contact was lost.
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A helicopter was deployed in the search operation
I Putu Sudayana, head of the search and rescue service office in Banjarmasin, said that the evacuation of 103 people was carried out by different vessels. Some of those rescued are to be taken to a port in East Java.
Rescuers sent a search team, vessels and a helicopter to the last known position of Virgo Transport 8. Sudayana did not specify what exactly happened to the passenger vessel.
