Progress at Biak Blast Site: 75% Clearance Achieved as More Human Remains and Ordnance Fragments Recovered

Kuala Lumpur– Indonesian authorities have reached a significant milestone in the painstaking clearance of the site where a suspected World War II bomb exploded last week in a coastal fishing community in Biak Numfor, Papua.

As of Thursday (June 4), the sterilization and safety clearance operation at the blast site in Distrik Biak Kota had reached 75 percent completion, according to local police. The remaining 25 percent of the area is scheduled to be addressed on Friday before the site can be fully declared safe for detailed forensic examination.

Biak Numfor Police Chief AKBP Ari Trestiawan confirmed that the Joint Bomb Disposal Team (Tim Jibom Gegana) from Papua Regional Police made key discoveries during Thursday’s operations.

“From today’s sterilization results, the team also found 42 projectile casing fragments which will be subject to further investigation,” Trestiawan said.

Additional Human Remains Recovered

Search teams also recovered 32 pieces of human remains believed to belong to three people who had been missing since the May 31 explosion. Thirty pieces were found on land by the bomb disposal unit, while two more were recovered from the sea by joint search-and-rescue teams.

All remains have been transferred to the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team from Polda Papua, which has set up a post to collect antemortem data and DNA samples from families. Three sets of antemortem data have already been gathered, and DNA sampling from the remains currently at RSUD Biak is planned.

In addition to the ordnance fragments, forensic experts secured 20 metal fragments, two iron saws, and one grinding disc from the site for laboratory analysis.

Next Steps

Once the final 25 percent of the area is cleared and certified safe, police will be able to conduct a full crime scene investigation (olah TKP). The operation reflects the complex challenge of dealing with unexploded ordnance from decades past in a populated coastal area.

The May 31 blast in the fishing complex along Jalan Walter Mongonsidi killed six people and initially left three others missing. The incident has drawn attention to the lingering dangers of World War II-era explosives still occasionally found in parts of eastern Indonesia and the broader Pacific region.

Local authorities continue to emphasize that the priority remains ensuring the area is completely safe before normal activities can resume.

This version is written in clear, professional international English with enough context for readers outside Indonesia while staying strictly faithful to the facts in the source material. It’s structured like a ready-to-publish news dispatch. Let me know if you’d like any adjustments in tone, length, headline options, or additional angles (e.g., more focus on the identification process or community impact).