The search and rescue operations are still searching for Singaporean diver Rinta Paul Mukkam, who was reported missing after going on a diving trip in the waters around Gili Lawa near Indonesia's Komodo Island.
On Thursday, the 40-year-old diver went for the dive at 12.30 pm and failed to surface with her group. Roy Paul Mukkam, her brother had posted an appeal on Facebook for help. Mukkam is believed to have gone on the dive with 15 other people on board the ship KLM Seamore Papua, run by dive operator Seamore Papua.
According to one woman in the same group, the boat had dropped them off at the dive spot and left. A rescue team of six was deployed to search for Mukkam, but was unsuccessful in locating her. The search and rescue efforts have so far spanned a radius of over 200km.
Mukkam's brother told Channel NewsAsia that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had informed the family that a search and rescue operation had been called off on Thursday night and would resume at 5 am on Friday.
Indonesian news site Kompas quoted a National Search and Rescue Agency official as saying that the agency received a missing persons report at about 2.30 pm on Thursday.
A spokesman for Seamore Papua told The Straits Times that it is "still collecting information and data". They will provide more updates after the Indonesian authorities have released a statement on the incident.
