Banjarmasin. Divers searching the wreck of the Virgo Transport 8 ferry in the Java Sea have broken into passenger cabins and found multiple bodies trapped inside, rescue officials said Tuesday, as the difficult recovery operation entered its 10th day.

The ferry capsized in bad weather on Sept. 13 while sailing from Surabaya to Banjarmasin with 243 people aboard, according to the manifest.

As of Tuesday night, 108 people had survived, and 18 bodies had been recovered, while 117 people remained missing.

I Putu Sudayana, head of the Banjarmasin Search and Rescue Office and the mission coordinator for the operation, said divers had managed to reach several passenger cabins by breaking windows to gain access.

“Many passengers can already be seen trapped inside the ship's cabins,” Putu told a news conference at Trisakti Port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Tuesday night.

“We tried to retrieve several of the victims using ropes, but we couldn't,” he said.

Rescuers plan to resume the recovery effort on Wednesday with additional equipment.

Putu said the search was now being concentrated on the ferry's compartments, particularly passenger sleeping cabins, after divers succeeded in entering areas of the wreck that had previously been difficult to reach.

The discovery raises the prospect that the death toll could increase substantially as rescuers gain greater access to the vessel.

Divers had earlier recovered three bodies from inside the wreck on Tuesday morning. The victims were brought to a rescue vessel before being transported by helicopter for identification.

Further recovery attempts were halted as strong currents reduced underwater visibility and made conditions unsafe for the divers.

“We couldn't continue the evacuation because the current became quite strong and made the water murky,” Putu said.

The joint search and rescue team plans to concentrate Wednesday's dives on compartments containing passenger cabins.

Rescuers could later attempt to search vehicles inside the ferry if conditions allow and the operation can be conducted safely. Vehicles have shifted and piled on top of one another because of the vessel's position, creating additional hazards for divers.

The underwater operation has repeatedly been hampered by strong currents, poor visibility and rough seas since the ferry capsized. Earlier attempts to penetrate the wreck were limited by dangerous conditions around the vessel.

As of Tuesday night, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) had accounted for 126 of the 243 people listed on the ferry's manifest: 108 survivors and 18 confirmed fatalities. The remaining 117 were still being searched for.

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