Indonesian rescuers recover third body from tour boat sinking
A third body has been found after the capsizing of a tour boat in Indonesia.
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) on Tuesday, Jan 6, 2026, rescuers put the newly recovered body of a victim of a tourist boat that sank in the waters of Komodo National Park on Dec 26 into an ambulance in Labuan Baja, Indonesia. (Photo: AP/BASARNAS)
JAKARTA: Indonesian rescuers recovered a third body Tuesday (Jan 6) from a tour boat that sank during a Christmas holiday trip, leaving two sons of a Spanish soccer coach still missing, officials said.
The body was recovered near the coast of Pede beach after fishermen spotted the wreckage, washed away nearly 14 kilometres (8.6 miles) from where the boat sank, said Fathur Rahman, head of the Maumere Search and Rescue Office.
The family holiday turned tragic for Valencia CF Women’s B coach Fernando Martín, 44, when the boat carrying him, his wife, their four children, four crew members and a local guide sank on the evening of Dec 26 after suffering engine failure in Indonesia’s Komodo National Park area.
Martín’s wife and one child, along with the four crew members and the guide, were rescued in the hours following the incident.
The bodies of Martin and his daughter were cremated in Bali on Monday, according to relatives' wishes, due to limited space at a mortuary in Labuan Bajo, said East Nusa Tenggara Police spokesperson Ariasandy, who goes by a single name, like many Indonesians.
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.
