"A helicopter has been deployed to search for the missing people," Head of SAR Denpasar Gede Darmada said.
The seven tourists reported missing were all women, namely Niata (59), Yamamoto (33), Tomita Nahomi (28), Muri Sono Aya (27), Yosidome Atsumi (29), Takahasioko (35), and a tourist guide from Japan, Hurukawa Sahori (37).
He said they had rented a special boat to go diving in the north of Nusa Lembongan waters on Friday (Feb 14) at 1.30 PM.
The operator became worried after he could see no signs of anyone 30 minutes after he had left them.
"The operator then searched for them but could not find them. It was then that the incident was reported to us at 7 PM," he explained.
At least 35 SAR personnel had been deployed and two boats were pressed into the search operations to find the missing tourists.
reporting by Dewa Wiguna
Edited by INE.
Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
