JAKARTA – Journalists across Indonesia gathered in prayer on Friday for five fellow media personnel and three boat crew members who remain missing after setting out to cover the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau earlier this week.
Prayer gatherings were held in several cities, including Jakarta, Banda Aceh, Surabaya and Bogor, as journalists expressed hope for the safe return of all eight individuals.
Pewarta Foto Indonesia (PFI) Chairman Dwi Pambudo said hundreds of journalists and media workers attended a prayer gathering in Central Jakarta, while similar prayers were held simultaneously by PFI chapters across the country.
“Hopefully, all the efforts made by the search team, together with everyone’s prayers, will bring the best possible news,” he said in a statement.
The five journalists are Muhammad Bagus Khoirunnas of Indonesia’s national news agency Antara, Firdaus Wajidi of Turkiye’s Anadolu Ajansi, Arie Basuki of news portal Merdeka.com, Yudistiro Pranoto of iNews and freelance journalist Donal Husni.
They were accompanied by three boat crew members when they left Pagedongan Pier in Carita, Banten, aboard a speedboat at about 2 pm on Monday to cover volcanic activity at Anak Krakatau in the Sunda Strait.
Their last communication was recorded at 2.42 pm before contact was lost later that day.
In Surabaya, PFI and the Indonesian Television Journalists Association (IJTI) held a prayer gathering with local journalists, while similar gatherings involving several press organisations were held in Bogor, West Java, and Banda Aceh.
Expressions of support also extended beyond Indonesia, with Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin saying the agency stood in solidarity with the five journalists and was deeply concerned over the incident.
Ikatan Setiakawan Wartawan Malaysia Indonesia (ISWAMI) Malaysia President Datuk Ahmad Zaini Kamaruzzaman said the Malaysian media community shared the concern of their Indonesian colleagues and hoped the five journalists and three boat crew members would be found safe.
Meanwhile, the joint search and rescue team found another orange life jacket on Friday, the fourth day of the operation, about 16.2 nautical miles east of Anak Krakatau, according to Banten SAR Office chief Al Amrad.
Indonesian Navy Banten Base Commander Lt Col Wawan Subagyo Mardani said the life jacket had been handed over for identification and could not yet be linked to the missing journalists and boat crew. – BERNAMA
