BANJARMASIN, thekabarnews.com—Survivors of the KM Virgo Transport 8 disaster have described how the passenger ferry rapidly listed and overturned in the Java Sea while sailing from Surabaya to Banjarmasin on Sunday, September 13.

Ahmad Saudi said he was asleep on a sofa when other passengers running through the vessel woke him. After asking what had happened, he stood up and realized the ferry was already leaning heavily to one side.

“It all happened very quickly. I was sleeping on a sofa when I saw people running. I asked what was happening, and they said the ship was listing. When I stood up, I realized it really was tilting,” Ahmad said, as quoted by detikKalimantan.

As the angle became steeper, Ahmad held onto a window before moving toward the upper section of the vessel. He said he waited there until a life raft became available and then jumped from the overturned ferry.

“I held onto the window as the ship continued to tilt. After that, I climbed to the upper section and waited. When a life raft came out, I jumped,” he said.

Ahmad claimed that many passengers remained in economy-class cabins when the ferry began to roll. He feared that women and children had difficulty escaping because the vessel tilted so quickly. He also said he did not hear an alarm before the emergency.

Authorities had not publicly confirmed Ahmad’s account about the alarm when this article was prepared. Investigators have also not announced the cause of the accident.

Another survivor, Rinto Arahab, said he heard a sound resembling breaking metal at about 2 a.m. before the ferry leaned to the left. He searched for a life jacket and later climbed onto the exposed hull after the vessel overturned.

Rinto said waves exceeding two meters struck the area. His account was broadly consistent with an official report that the captain had encountered waves reaching three meters before issuing a distress message.

Rinto spent around four hours at sea before a passing coal tugboat rescued him. He said about 15 people had initially stayed together, but rescuers found only eight members of the group.

“My feelings were mixed. I could only surrender, pray to Allah, and ask to be saved,” he said. Rinto also sustained injuries from impacts during his escape and rescue.

The ferry’s manifest listed 243 people aboard, comprising 213 passengers and 30 crew members. It was also carrying 89 vehicles on the Surabaya–Banjarmasin route.

The latest count reported that rescuers had saved at least 108 people and recovered six bodies, leaving at least 129 unaccounted for.

Earlier reports citing Basarnas recorded lower rescue figures because officials released them while evacuation work was still progressing.

Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said aerial observations indicated that the 119-meter ferry remained afloat upside down.

Search teams deployed vessels and helicopters around its last known position, about 148 kilometers from Banjarmasin.

The survivors’ accounts provide important evidence about conditions aboard the ferry, but investigators must still verify their statements against crew testimony and technical records. The search for missing passengers and the investigation into why the vessel overturned remain ongoing.