JAKARTA, Dec 29 (Reuters) – Indonesian rescuers on Monday found a body during the search for Spanish soccer coach Fernando Martin and his children after their boat sank near the coast of a popular tourist spot on Friday, the country’s rescue agency said.
Martin was a coach with the Spanish club Valencia CF, which said he and his three children died “in the tragic boat accident in Indonesia, as confirmed by local authorities.”
The boat Martin and his family were on capsized on Friday after suffering engine failure during bad weather in the Padar Island Strait, close to the resort town of Labuan Bajo, authorities said. The location is near the Komodo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site where the rare Komodo dragons live.
Fathur Rahman, the chief of a local search and rescue agency, said they have recovered the body of a female “highly suspected of being a victim” of the accident. Authorities are currently trying to secure an identification, he added.
The search for the bodies of Martin and his children are ongoing despite strong currents and tall waves, Fathur said, adding it will also continue going into Tuesday.
Martin’s wife and one daughter, as well as four crew members and a tour guide, survived the accident. The boat was carrying 11 people.
Indonesia has placed a temporary ban on tour boats sailing in the waters of Labuan Bajo and the Komodo Islands, its tourism ministry said on Sunday.
Separately, a speedboat carrying 21 people capsized in the waters near Indonesia’s Papua, with 17 people missing and one dead, a local search and rescue agency official said on Monday.
Boats and ferries are a regular mode of transport in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, with accidents caused by bad weather and lax safety standards that often allow vessels to be overloaded.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by David Stanway)
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