E-Paper
Five dead, 41 missing in Indonesia ferry fire
The captain reported the fire as the vessel sailed from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city in East Java, to Makassar in South Sulawesi.
Five people have been found dead, and 41 are missing after an Indonesian ferry with 271 people on board caught fire while at sea on Sunday, news agency AFP reported, citing search and rescue officials.
The ferry was carrying 271 passengers and crew members, 225 of whom had been rescued, according to agency data on Sunday afternoon, Reuters reported.
The captain reported the fire as the vessel sailed from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city in East Java, to Makassar in South Sulawesi, according to Basarnas, the National Search and Rescue Agency.
Nanang Sigit, head of the Surabaya Search and Rescue Office, said several nearby vessels had joined the rescue effort.
"TB Hasnur 26 and the British Mentor are assisting in evacuating passengers who jumped from KMP Mutiara Sentosa 2. Four vessels are now alongside the ferry," Nanang was quoted by Jakarta Global as saying.
He added that the search-and-rescue vessel SAR 249 Permadi was en route to the scene but had an estimated travel time of about six hours.
Videos circulating on social media appeared to show thick black smoke billowing from the upper decks as flames spread through the ferry. Passengers wearing life jackets could be seen gathered on one side of the vessel. HT has not immediately verified the authenticity of the footage.
"Based on preliminary reports from the field, passengers are waiting to be evacuated by the vessels in the vicinity of the incident site," said Muhammad Masyhud, a senior official at the Ministry of Transportation.
"The safety of passengers and crew is our top priority. We are continuously coordinating with all relevant parties to ensure that the evacuation process can proceed quickly, safely, and effectively," he said in a statement.
Marine accidents in Indonesia
Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, partly due to lax safety standards and unpredictable weather.
A ferry transporting more than 70 people sank last month while sailing near Selayar, a small tropical island south of the much larger Sulawesi.
At least four people were found dead, and 14 others remained missing until the end of the search operation.
