Head of the Bengkalis water police unit Ajunct Police Commissioner Angga Febrian Herlambang said Friday that the search for the missing was still going on by a joint team of the Bengkalis Water Police Resort, Water Police Headquarters, Port Master, the Military and National SAR Agency (Basarnas) of Pekanbaru.
In these three days the search is conducted by combing the waters in a 50-mile radius from the point where the tugboat went down.
When asked on the possibility that the three missing people may be stuck on the body of the tugboat, Angga said three divers had checked, and nothing was found on the body of the tugboat.
It was also stated by the four survivors that in the accident they along with the three victims were outside the tugboat.
"Therefore it is most unlikely that the three victims had been stuck on the body of the tugboat, and the search was therefore continued by combing the surface of the sea," he said.
Angga said that in the search for the victims, he is facing some problems because of the bad weather.
"It was very often raining in those waters," he said.
He also said visibility is also very limited, and the waves are high.
"But we are not taking any unnecessary risks, because searching at night may be very risky to the team members, Angga said.
The tugboat was pulling a pontoon when the accident happened. Earlier, seven tugboat crew members sank, but four of them survived and three others were still missing.
(T.KR-FZR/H-NG/A014/H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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