Eight dead, 25 injured in Indonesian ferry stampede
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Eight people died and 25 were injured Wednesday in a stampede that followed a fire on a ferry moored off Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya, state media reported.
A fire broke out on the Kirana IX ferry and panicking passengers tried to escape, resulting in a stampede, local deputy police chief Edi Sumantri said, according to the Antara news agency.
"None of the victims died of burns, but they died because they were crushed and trampled on," he was quoted as saying.
The cause of the fire was still unknown.
Ferry accidents are common in Indonesia, where safety standards have been criticised as lax.
On Monday, three people were killed and 100 injured when a ferry bound for Banjarmasin on Indonesian Borneo collided with a tugboat and caught fire.
