LAKE TOBA, Indonesia, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Family members of missing passengers would be allowed to scatter flowers in Lake Toba in Indonesia's North Sumatra province where a boat capsized on June 18, an official of the Indonesian search team said on Friday.
The offer was made as an operation to recover the bodies and salvage the wreckage of Sinar Bangun from the bottom of the 500-meter-deep lake continued, the official said.
"That is a plan, whether they will be recovered or simply remembered by scattering flower and offering prayers by families of the passengers. So there will be two options," said Budiawan, head of provincial National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
He added that the operation to lift up the wreckage and retrieve the bodies would take more time and efforts due to the depth of the lake.
The flower scattering option would require the passengers' families to let bodies of their loved remain at the bottom of the lake, he said.
"We would discuss further with the provincial government and families of the passengers over the flower scattering option," Budiawan said.
The wreckage of capsized Sinar Bangun boat was located 3 km away from the lake's Tigaras port at a depth of around 450 meters.
Budiawan said rescuers would continue recovering bodies possibly floating in the water and conducting aerial surveillance.
The Basarnas has extended the search operation for three more days to Saturday.
Speaking in the search team command center at Tigaras port, Basarnas Operation and Readiness Deputy Nugroho Budi Wiryanto said the wreckage of Sinar Bangun was spotted in the footages taken by a remotely-operated underwater vehicle (ROV) on Thursday.
"The bodies were seen at a depth of 455 meters, while the boat at 420 meters. The passengers and things were likely detached from the boat and fell deeper," he said.
Sinar Bangun, which departed from Simanindo port in the lake's island of Samosir, capsized on June 18 before reaching the destination port of Tigaras.
Indonesian authorities said three people were killed and 164 missing in the incident, far above the capacity of the boat which is designed to accommodate 43 passengers.
The search team has rescued 19 survivors.
Two provincial transportation officials, administrator of Simanindo port and the owner of Sinar Bangun have been named as suspects over the deadly shipwreck.
