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Three Bodies of KM Virgo Victims Identified, Including Banjarmasin Married Couple

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Evacuation workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) unload three bodies of KM Virgo victims from a Basarnas ship upon arrival at Trisakti Port, Banjarmasin, Friday night (18/9/2026).(KOMPAS.com/ANDI MUHAMMAD HASWAR)

BANJARMASIN, KOMPAS.com - Three bodies of the KM Virgo Transport 8 victims, which were evacuated the day before by the joint Search and Rescue (SAR) team, have been successfully identified by the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) unit of the Medical and Health Department (Bidokkes) at South Kalimantan Regional Police (Polda Kalsel), on Saturday (19/9/2026).

These three bodies were previously found trapped inside the ship’s compartment during dives conducted by the Navy diving team inside the vessel.

Head of Bidokkes at Polda Kalsel, Police Commissioner M Sofwan, stated that from the identification results, two were male and one female. All three were residents of South Kalimantan.

“They were identified through medical records and fingerprints,” Sofwan said during a press conference at Bhayangkara Hospital Banjarmasin on Saturday afternoon.

The identities of the three are Surya (59), a resident of Tapin Regency; Yuli (29); and Muhammad Abdiannoor (30), both residents of Banjarmasin.

“The latter two are husband and wife,” Sofwan added.

It is known that the three identified victims belong to one family. They had previously traveled to several areas in Java to visit graves of Islamic saints.

After identification, the three bodies were immediately handed over to their families who had been waiting at Bhayangkara Hospital Banjarmasin.

Husnul Khotimah (39), a family member of the victims, expressed relief that three of her relatives had been identified.

“It’s somewhat relieving but also sad because five others have yet to be found,” Husnul told reporters at Bhayangkara Hospital Banjarmasin.

Husnul is determined to stay at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin until her remaining five family members are evacuated.

“We will wait until all are found, regardless of their condition,” she concluded.

With this, the DVI team at Polda Kalsel has successfully identified a total of nine victims’ bodies, all of which have been returned to their families.