Indonesian ferry fire leaves five dead and 41 missing off Madura
Search teams are looking for 41 missing people after the KMP Mutiara Sentosa 2 ferry caught fire off Madura island while sailing from Surabaya to Makassar.
At least five people have died and 41 remain missing after an Indonesian ferry caught fire off Madura island in East Java, authorities said.
Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said the ferry was carrying 271 passengers and crew, of whom 225 had been rescued by Sunday afternoon. A search and rescue operation was still under way.
The vessel, identified by local reports as KMP Mutiara Sentosa 2, was travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Makassar in South Sulawesi when the fire broke out on Sunday morning. Madura island lies off the north-eastern coast of Java.
Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, or Basarnas, reported that the captain alerted authorities to the fire near Madura while the ferry was at sea. The Surabaya search and rescue office was notified at 8.24am local time, while information from the shipping company indicated that the fire began between 6am and 7am local time.
Basarnas later confirmed that the ferry had been almost completely engulfed by flames, while passengers gathered around the bridge and bow of the vessel as they waited for rescue. The cause of the fire was still unclear.
Footage shared online showed smoke and flames rising from the upper part of the ferry. Other clips showed people climbing down from the vessel and jumping into the sea, with many wearing life jackets as rescuers threw lifebuoys and brought survivors onto rescue boats.
Reuters reported that the search operation was continuing on Sunday, with Indonesian authorities still trying to locate those missing after the incident.
Source: Reuters
