It is well known that in the maritime area bordering the town of Labuan Bajo, epicenter of diving clubs Flores Island and Komodo National Park, sea conditions generally deteriorate on these important dates. … But of course, with thousands of tourists arriving from much of the world enjoying the Christmas holidays, where they usually seek, in addition to their free time, hours of sun and sea, it is difficult for them to local small business ownersUsually ship owners, who employ a good part of the local population and even many diving instructors from the West, dock their boats when the demands for diving and transforming an ordinary day into a wonderful excursion are enormous.
Shifting hundreds of dollars per operation, while tourists eager to photograph Komodo dragons while taking pictures on the pink sand of Pink Beach, local authorities prefer to turn a blind eye. It has almost always been this way and it would continue until last Friday, when Putri Sakinah’s boat was cut in two and swallowed up by the waves after being blocked and no response from the engine a night which had already fallen and which delivered a father and his three children to the sea, in the worst Christmas story in history.
“The town of Labuan Bajo is not only saddened by what happened to this Spanish family, but also concerned by the number of days that could be without earning money working at sea,” a local who preferred to keep his name secret told me.
“It is obvious that we often organize excursions which should not have started due to bad weather conditions. But the need for bread and the confidence of so many flawless journeys are taking their toll,” the same person concluded.
What must be clear is that no police investigationwhich has not yet started, it will not be possible to know if the pleasure boat entrepreneurs of Labuan Bajo were too confident, or if the weather conditions were already announcing a possible problem, or if this boat had all the permits up to date, or if directly the port authorities, who, the day after the disaster, canceled any incursion into the sea of any boat until next January 2, closed their eyes as so many times, thinking that in the mountains everything was normal. oregano.
A little girl found dead
The fact that one of the missing minors was found dead today places the police at the starting point of the investigation. There is no time to lose, because there are still three missing Spaniards – including two children – who are still being sought while responsibilities must be clarified in a case that once again overshadows Indonesian tourism’s stormy relationship with quality and, above all, safety.
“We will not return to Spain without the four of us, all together,” the family said in a statement, hoping to find the bodies.
It is not easy for the Indonesian authorities to look into this type of case. Just four months ago, Spanish tourist Mati Muñoz was reported missing – drowned, since she went to the same beach on the island of Lombok every morning to swim – when in reality she had been violently robbed and murdered by an employee of the hotel where she was staying and a former employee. After the case was resolved, critics pointed the finger at Indonesia, which suffers from a conflict of interest when it is its own citizens, in some cases, who are responsible for some of its misdeeds.
Pressure from the Spanish embassy
Tomorrow at 7 a.m., rescue teams on the island of Flores will continue to search for the rest of the missing people, while local regulations provide for a work stoppage. According to them, on the sixth day of the search, everything could stop. In this context, the families of those affected and the Spanish Embassy in Jakarta are trying to expand the work of Indonesian divers and maritime personnel.
Time, inexorable, runs against those swallowed up by the sea. But no one is capable of losing the dream of a miracle. Even after the tragedy of this Monday, where the first body was found, lifeless. The miner’s body appeared one nautical mile from the point where the ship is suspected to have sunk.
family declaration
The family does not lose hope of finding the rest of the missing, even if they are dead, as they explained in a statement on Monday: “In these moments of indescribable pain, we ask that consideration and respect for the privacy of our families be maintained. We appreciate all the support we receive, both in Spain and Indonesia, and we hope that the research efforts will continue. We won’t return to Spain without the four of us, all together. Thank you so much “.
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