Indonesia ferry death toll hits 66 as search operation continues for 16th day

The death toll on an Indonesian ship capsized earlier this month has risen to 66. Divers have already found 69 passengers who were reported missing on the 16th day of the search.

The Virgo Transport 8 ferry, which carried 243 people including 30 crew members and an unspecified number of vehicles, overturned due to bad weather in the early hours of September 13 during a flight from Surabai to Banjarmasin.

"Indonesia uses ferries to connect its 17,000 islands as sea travel is cheaper and more affordable than air travel, but there have been a number of accidents involving this mode of transport," it said.

Divers had to make their way through the wreckage of the ship on day 16 of the search, a senior official for the country's search and rescue agency, Hardiancia Putra, said on Monday, adding that they would seek to find passengers from cabins. It is noted that divers were allowed to dive a maximum of 27 meters.

On Sunday, a senior agency official, I. Putu Sudayana, said that on Monday rescuers had to deliver several bodies from the Java Sea, where the ship sank, using a helicopter.