Sunken tourist boat and another body found after Spanish soccer coach, 3 children go missing off Indonesia
Indonesian rescuers found on Tuesday a tourist boat that sank in rough seas nearly two weeks ago, and recovered the body of one of two missing Spanish victims, an official said.
Seven of those on board when the boat went down in eastern Indonesia on December 26 were rescued alive, while four others -- a Spanish man and three of his children -- were declared missing.
The search mission had already recovered the bodies of the man, 44-year-old soccer coach Fernando Martin Carreras, and his daughter. Martin is the coach of Valencia CF's women's football B team, BBC News reported.
Fathur Rahman, head of the local search and rescue agency, said the shipwreck was found on Tuesday about 8 miles from the site of the accident in the Padar Island Strait, near the popular tourist destination of Labuan Bajo.
"The third victim was retrieved after we were informed by a fisherman that he had discovered a body and the hull of the boat," Fathur said at a press conference.
The body was taken to hospital for identification, he added.
Carreras's wife and one of their daughters were among those who were rescued alive when the boat sank. Officials said the family was on a holiday in Indonesia's Komodo National Park area.
The search for the last missing victim, a boy from the same family, would continue on Wednesday, the rescue official said.
The search has included "sweeping nearby islands, deploying sonar and carrying out dives", and will now expand to cover a larger area, added Fathur.
The search area had been doubled from the initial one centered on a 5.6-mile radius from the site of the sinking, where rescue teams found the boat debris, Rahman previously said. Rescuers conducted intensive searches across the waters surrounding Padar island, including near the tiny islands of Serai, Pengah, Papagarang, Siaba Besar, and northern Kanawa island.
Indonesia is an archipelago with more than 17,000 islands, where boats are a common form of transportation. With lax safety standards and problems with overcrowding, accidents occur frequently.
Komodo National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site famous for its rugged landscapes, pristine beaches and an endangered lizard, the Komodo dragon. The park attracts thousands of international visitors for diving, trekking and wildlife tours.
