Timeline: Searchers find debris which appears to be from missing Indonesian submarine

File photo taken on Oct. 5, 2017 shows Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala-402 during a ceremony honoring the 72nd anniversary of the country's Armed Forces Day at Cilegon, Banten province, Indonesia. (Xinhua/Zulkarnain)

JAKARTA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian searchers have found debris which appears to be from a missing submarine in waters off Bali Island, the Indonesian navy chief of staff said Saturday.

Here is a timeline of the accident:

April 24:

-- Yudo Margono, Indonesian navy chief of staff, announced searchers have found debris which is believed to be from a missing submarine in waters off Bali Island.

Indonesian Military Chief Hadi Tjahjanto (L, front) displays debris discovered as part of a missing submarine KRI Nanggala-402 during a press conference at Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali, Indonesia, April 24, 2021. (Photo by Bisinglasi/Xinhua)

The condition of those 53 people aboard the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine cannot be determined, he told a press conference.

Rescuers were faced with difficulties during the search process, the navy chief of staff said in Bali.

April 22:

-- Margono said that the missing submarine KRI Nanggala-402 would have enough oxygen for 72 hours during a power blackout.

-- The Indonesian Army detected underwater movement at 2.5 knots around the last location of the missing submarine, according to an official source.

A search and rescue ship departs to search for the Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala-402 which was reported missing on Wednesday in Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia, April 23, 2021. (Photo by Kasidia/Xinhua)

"The contact (was) then lost, so there is still not enough data to identify that it was a submarine," said military spokesperson Achmad Riad.

A helicopter and two military vessels also found an oil spill and the smell of diesel fuel at several different locations, but it is not yet possible to conclude that this was submarine fuel, Riad added.

April 21:

-- Indonesia's Defense Ministry has deployed the warship Rigel and the mine-sweeper Rengat to search for the Nanggala-402 submarine which lost contact with the navy during a strategic weapons firing exercise in the Bali Strait waters in the early hours of Wednesday, according to an official source.

"The Indonesian Navy has also sent distress to the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison officer," said the Ministry's Public Relations Bureau in a press release.