LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia — As the search for two missing boys enters its eleventh day, rescue coordinators have identified a revealing and tragic pattern in the Komodo currents: the bodies of coach Fernando Martín Carreras and his daughter were both recovered from the same general area, offering a crucial clue to the forces at play and narrowing the focus for the ongoing operation.
The 12-year-old girl was found on December 29 near Serai Island, approximately one nautical mile from the sinking site. Her father was discovered on January 4 near Rinca Island, about 1.13 nautical miles from the same point. Despite being found days apart, their locations were relatively close, clustered between the two islands.
“When we look at the location from the estimated point of the ship, we focused on the current direction. It turns out that in the waters of Labuan Bajo there is a back-and-forth current, meaning there are tidal currents that caused the missing victims to return to that area,” explained Fathur Rahman, Head of the Maumere Search and Rescue Office, on Monday.
This pattern of a “back-and-forth” current helps explain why the victims were not scattered far and wide, but rather held within a specific maritime zone. It has become a key factor in planning the search grids for the remaining boys.
The same hydrodynamic theory has led authorities to a sobering working hypothesis for why the two children have not yet been found. “The possibility [they are in the ship] certainly exists, in the sense that we have not found the victims. Because the initial information was that the victims were in the cabin and it could not be opened. That’s the initial info,” Fathur stated. This suggests the boys may still be trapped within the sunken hull of the KM Putri Sakinah, which itself has not been located.
With this in mind, the intensified search—deploying 160 personnel across 17 vessels—will continue for three more days. The operation combines surface sweeps of the identified current zone, diving, and advanced sonar technology in a final, concentrated effort to locate the wreck and, with it, hopefully find the two missing children and bring a devastating chapter to a close for their grieving family.
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