Five dead, 41 missing in Indonesia ferry fire
At least five people have died, while 41 others remain missing after an Indonesian ferry carrying about 250 passengers caught fire at sea.
The captain reported the fire off Madura Island as the vessel sailed from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city in East Java, to Makassar in South Sulawesi, according to the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
It posted a video to its TikTok account, saying that at 2:24 the Surabaya Search and Rescue office received information that a passenger ship, KMP Mutiara Sentosa 2, was on fire.
“Based on information from the shipping company, the fire occurred at around 06:00-07:00 (00:00-01:00 GMT),” the agency said.
It later confirmed that the ferry was “almost entirely engulfed in flames,” with passengers gathered on the bridge and at the bow while awaiting rescue.
Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the fire.
Videos released by the agency showed passengers jumping into the sea as rescuers threw lifebuoys to those in the water before pulling them aboard rescue vessels.
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