At least five people have been confirmed dead and 41 others remain missing after a passenger ferry caught fire off Indonesia’s Madura Island, prompting a major search and rescue operation, authorities said.
According to Aljazeera, The Mutiara Sentosa 2 caught fire between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. local time while travelling from Surabaya in East Java province to Makassar in South Sulawesi. The ferry was carrying 271 people, including 232 passengers and 39 crew members, when the blaze broke out.
Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) said the ferry operator, PT Atosim Lampung Pelayaran, alerted authorities about an hour after the fire started, following a distress report from the vessel’s captain. Contact with the ferry was later lost before rescuers located it about 19 nautical miles (35 kilometres) north of Buruan Sapudi Island after establishing communication with a nearby cargo ship.
The cargo vessel was unable to move close to the burning ferry because it was transporting flammable materials. Footage released by Basarnas showed thick black smoke billowing from the vessel as passengers wearing life jackets gathered on deck awaiting rescue. Videos circulating on social media also appeared to show some passengers jumping into the sea as flames spread across the ferry.
Rescue teams, assisted by passing vessels and a tugboat, managed to evacuate 225 passengers and crew members and recover the bodies of five victims. Authorities said 41 people remained unaccounted for, with search operations continuing into the evening.
Basarnas deployed a rescue ship from Surabaya, although officials said it would take approximately six hours to reach the scene. A rigid inflatable rescue boat dispatched from a nearby station was forced to return because of rough seas and high waves, while the Indonesian Navy sent a warship to support the operation.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and investigators are expected to begin examining the vessel once it is safe to do so.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries for transportation. However, maritime accidents remain relatively common because of overcrowding, inconsistent enforcement of safety regulations and challenging weather conditions.
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