WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — The aerial search for survivors from a ferry that sank in the remote Pacific was suspended Friday with more than 80 people still missing, many of them children, officials said.
“The Kiribati government has suspended aerial searches for survivors of the ferry MV Butiraoi,” Rescue Coordination Center New Zealand said in a statement.
The Butiraoi set off January 18 on a two-day voyage with 88 people aboard, including 23 children and teenagers.
Authorities raised the alarm eight days later after hearing nothing from the vessel, sparking an international search effort.
A dinghy with seven survivors, including a 14-year-old girl, was found on Sunday but subsequent searches have only found scattered debris.
The rescue center said the four aircraft involved in the search — from New Zealand, Australia and the United States — would return to their home countries.
It said Kiribati-based boats would continue to look for survivors.
However, the aerial sweeps were considered the best chance of finding anyone alive in a vast oceanic search area that is bigger in size than Italy.
© Agence France-Presse