Relatives of victims of a capsized boat wait for news at Tigarasa port in Lake Toba, North Sumatera, Indonesia, June 28, 2018. The Sinar Bangun boat sank on June 18 after leaving Simanindo port in Samosir district. At least 4 people were dead and over 192 others missing in the accident. (XInhua/Agung Kuncahya B.)
by Abu Hanifah
LAKE TOBA, Indonesia, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The families of those who went missing after their boat capsized in Indonesia's Lake Toba 10 days ago are still hoping that the bodies of their beloved ones could be recovered soon.
The families want to bring the bodies of their beloved back home so as to bury them properly.
The Sinar Bangun boat sank on June 18 after leaving Simanindo port in Samosir district. Police said it was five times over its passenger capacity of 43 and equipped with less than 50 life jackets.
Latest information is that only 18 survivors have been found and three bodies recovered. A total of 164 people are reported missing.
Sad and distressed, some of the families have spent days waiting in the open air near the lake and others are staying in tents set up for the families. They rarely go to sleep as they want to be kept informed with the lastest development of the accident.
Standing in the cold and watching far towards the lake from the Simanindo port, Rafii, a middle-aged man, is waiting for his youngest son, who had just graduated from college, to come home.
Speaking to Xinhua with despair on Tuesday, Rafii said as so many days have passed and the possibility of finding more survivors is getting slim, he would accept the fact that his son has already died.
"I know that they have been doing the rescue and search seriously, using all of those equipment. But so far there is no apparent result from the search. My family and I only want to see the body of my son and bury him properly on land," Rafii told Xinhua.
He said his son, Heru Purnomo, went to Samosir island with his relatives and friends to spend a vacation there during the Muslim festivity holiday.
Recalling the last moment he spent with his youngest son, Rafii said that death is unpredictable.
"He happily ask my permission to go to Samosir. I was happy to let him go there. It was Eid Al Fitr holiday that should be enjoyed by everyone. But apparently he went for good to soon in his young age. He should be busy sending applications for jobs by now," he said with his tears in eyes.
Rafii said he would return to work and would occasionally check the latest development of the accident next day as he understood that hope has started to fade away.
"My boss understands my dire situation and allowed me to left my job to stay here in the port," he added.
He said what he wants now is to know the exact location of the boat wreckage and when the search team will lift up the boat to recover the bodies of all those missing.
"I hope that all of the bodies of the missing passenger can be recovered by the search team so that their families can see them for the last time."
Indonesia's Transportation Ministry has formed an ad hoc team to improve the safety of ferry transport for the tourism destination of Lake Toba in North Sumatra province.
Indonesian authorities have been trying hard to search the victims of the capsized ferry and deployed military instrument to locate the wreckage in the lake with a depth of over 500 meters.
Lake Toba is the world's largest volcanic lake, created from a super volcanic eruption that occurred over 74,000 years ago.
