Kolaka, Southeast Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - Search and rescue teams on Tuesday recovered the bodies of two more passengers of KMP Windu Karsa that capsized in Southeast Sulawesi waters recently.

The joint team of rescuers from the local chapters of the National SAR Agency (Basarnas) in Kendari and Kolaka and PT Antam and community members found the two bodies in different parts of the ill-fated boat.

The bloated and smelling bodies were found and evacuated by rescuers using diving gear.

One of the bodies belonged to Agus Setiono (46) who was an employee of PT Antam and the other to Yohanes Lempe (50), an army retiree of Langori, Pomalaa, Kolaka.

Local police chief Second Inspector Ahmad Troy said one of them was found on the passenger deck while the other was in other location in the boat.

With Tuesday`s finds, the number of fatalities in the accident had increased to 12.

Many people still came to the local Kolaka hospital to check if the SAR team again brought bodies that might be their relatives`.

According to a local police unit the bodies of a dozen people who had been on ferry boat still had to be found.

KMP Windu Karsa reportedly with 105 passengers on board capsized while on its way from Bajoe port in South Sulawesi to Kolaka in Southeast Sulawesi at around 2.25pm local time on August 26 due to strong winds but some suspected that the cause of the tragedy was overloading. Some 93 passengers had so far been saved.

Police were still investigating the cause of the incident.(*)

Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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