At least five people have died and 39 are missing after a ferry caught fire off the coast of Indonesia. The ‘Mutiyara Sentosa-2’ ferry was traveling from Surabaya in East Java to Makassar in South Sulawesi when the blaze broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning.
According to Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), 232 passengers, 39 crew members, and 181 vehicles, mostly trucks and an excavator, were on board the ferry when the fire started. The ferry operator, PT ASI Pelayaran, reported the incident to the Surabaya search and rescue office about an hour after it occurred, but lost contact with the captain shortly after.
Rescue teams managed to save 227 people, but 39 are still missing. The cause of the fire is not yet known, and an investigation is underway. One of the rescued passengers, Ahmad Abdul Karim, said the fire started from a truck on the lower deck and spread quickly due to strong winds.
The ferry was built in Japan in 1992 and was sold to Indonesia in 2015. It was previously operated in Japan under the name ‘Ferry Osaka’ and has been used for passenger and cargo services between Surabaya and Makassar.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, relies heavily on sea transportation. However, the country has a poor safety record, with frequent maritime accidents occurring due to lax safety standards.
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