Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Jakarta Metro Jaya Police assigned the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team to identify the dead victims of Zahro Express passenger ship, which caught fire in the waters of Seribu Island, on Sunday morning.

"We carry out identification, and the people who lost their family can come directly to the Kramat Jati Police Hospital," head of Medical and Health affairs of the Jakarta Metro Jaya Police, Senior Commissioner Umar Shahab said here on Sunday.

Umar stated that he had received 22 bodies of victims that have been placed in the police hospital in Kramatjati, Jakarta.

According to him, bodies of the victims were difficult to recognize, so families of the victims are expected to bring data such as the postmortem, tooth structure or other physical signs.

In the meantime, the Jakarta police spokesman Sr. Com. Argo Yuwono said the rescuers are concentrating to find the missing victims around the scene.

The death toll of the ill-fated ship carrying around 200 passengers rose to 23.

The rescue team evacuated three bodies to Atmajaya Hospital in North Jakarta. They are identified as Jeksen Wilhelmus (40) of Bogor City, Masduki of Cirebon City and a woman named Alia.

Meanwhile, 20 other bodies are evacuated to the Kramajati Police Hospital in East Jakarta for identification.

Zahro Express ferry was sailing from Muara Angke to Pulau Tidung, Seribu Islands in North Jakarta, when it caught fire on Sunday morning.

The Police and Jakarta Provincial Administration are investigating the cause of the fires.

The ferry left Muara Angke at 08.45 and caught fires in the waters of Pulau Bidadari, Seribu Islands at 09:00 Western Indonesia Standard Time (WIB).(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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