LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia — Under a blanket of stars in the Marina Waterfront, the collective grief of a community and a shattered family converged on Friday night. Hundreds of local residents gathered, lighting a thousand candles in a solemn vigil for the victims of the KM Putri Sakinah sinking, their flickering light reflecting off the very waters that claimed the missing.
At the heart of the poignant gathering was the wife of Fernando Martin Carreras, the Valencia CF women’s B-team coach who, along with his two sons, remains lost in the Komodo sea. Alongside other family members, she sat through the rosary prayers and hymns that filled the humid night air, a portrait of stoic anguish.
The emotional dam broke as the communal prayers concluded and the individual candles were lit. Overwhelmed by the wave of sorrow, the coach’s wife collapsed into hysterical tears, her body wracked by grief so profound she had to be carried in the arms of her family and supportive strangers. The raw, unfiltered sound of her crying moved the entire assembly, with many in the crowd weeping openly alongside her.
Several Catholic nuns approached, embracing her tightly and making the sign of the cross on her forehead, their own cheeks wet with tears. “Truly, I could not bear to see it. It was so heartbreaking,” said one male witness, himself visibly shaken and crying.
The vigil, organized by the Catechetical Commission of the Labuan Bajo Diocese, transcended religious boundaries, with Muslim residents also standing in solidarity. The event served as a powerful testament to a community binding together in the face of a tragedy that has touched both local hearts and international headlines.
The family’s ordeal began on December 26 when their tourist boat capsized in the Padar Strait. While the coach’s wife and youngest daughter survived, and an older daughter was recovered deceased on December 29, the search for Mr. Carreras and his two sons has now entered a desperate ninth day.
As the vigil ended, supporters continued to hold the grieving wife, creating a protective human corridor to guide her away from the waterfront. The scene was a heartbreaking coda to another day that yielded no answers from the sea, the community’s shared prayers rising as the last hope against the implacable silence of the deep.
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