LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia — A ten-day multinational search in the waters of Komodo National Park reached a somber milestone on Sunday morning with the recovery of a body believed to be that of Fernando Martín Carreras, the Valencia CF women’s B-team coach missing since a tourist boat sank on December 26.
The discovery was made around 8:45 a.m. local time on what was scheduled to be the final day of the official search operation. Video from the scene shows SAR personnel carefully retrieving the body from the water’s surface near the primary search zone off Padar Island. The footage captures the grim, methodical work of the recovery team against the backdrop of the area’s famed rugged islands.
A member of the family, present at the SAR operations post in Marina Labuan Bajo, confirmed the discovery to waiting media, stating, “Father is found.” Authorities, led by SAR Mission Coordinator Fathur Rahman of Basarnas Maumere, have refrained from an immediate official statement, pending a formal forensic identification process at the Labuan Bajo Regional General Hospital.
The recovery brings a tragic and partial closure to an intensive search that deployed over 150 personnel, advanced sonar, thermal drones, and a fleet of vessels. It confirms the worst fears for the Spanish family, yet leaves unresolved the fate of the coach’s two young sons, who remain missing.
The finding on the surface, rather than within the still-unlocated wreck of the KM Putri Sakinah, raises new questions about the final moments of the tragedy. It suggests some victims may have escaped the cabin as the vessel sank, only to succumb later in the powerful currents of the Flores Sea.
As the identification process begins, the focus now painfully shifts from search and rescue to recovery and investigation. The discovery underscores both the relentless effort of the rescue teams and the formidable, often unforgiving, power of the natural environment in one of the world’s most iconic marine parks. The future of the search for the two missing children hangs in the balance, with authorities yet to announce if operations will continue beyond this conclusive yet heartbreaking day.
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