Three divers, including a Singaporean, went missing from the southwest of Sangiang Island in Banten province, Indonesia almost four days ago. On Wednesday, the Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has deployed a team which includes more than 150 people who covered 900 sq km of the area between Sumatra and Java to find these missing divers. One of them is a Singaporean diver, who was identified as Wan Bing Yang.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Singapore said on Tuesday that they are providing the assistance to the family of the missing Singaporean diver, while Indonesian authorities are coordinating search and rescue operations. The Basarnas stated that nine patrol vessels and one rescue helicopter were deployed to find the Singaporean as well as two Chinese nationals Qin Xue Tao and Tian Yu.
An MFA spokesperson said that while a consular officer is on the ground to provide assistance and support, "The (Singapore) embassy has also been liaising closely with the Indonesian authorities, who are coordinating search and rescue operations." The head of the Banten chapter of Basarnas, Zainal Arifin said that five ships belong to the Indonesian navy and the rescue agency as well as a helicopter is also deployed to boost the search mission.
"The victims were on holiday and participated in a group diving excursion around Sangiang Island. There were seven of them, but only six went diving, while one was snorkeling," Basarnas stated in a statement as reported by Jakarta Globe.
It was revealed these three divers were part of a six men group which went for diving at 2 pm on Sunday, November 3 on Sangiang Island, which is about 30 minutes by boat from Merak port. But after the session, only three of the divers returned to shore at 3 pm. As per the rescue officers, the three divers may have washed away by the currents heading towards the Indian Ocean and failed to make the return to the land.
