Indonesia ferry fire: Five dead, 41 missing — 225 rescued as search op continues off Madura island

An Indonesian ferry carrying 271 people caught fire at sea on Sunday, killing five people and leaving another 41 missing as rescuers and passing vessels evacuated hundreds from the burning ship.

The Mutiara Sentosa 2 ferry was travelling from Indonesia's second-largest city of Surabaya in East Java to the city of Makassar in South Sulawesi, with 232 passengers and 39 crew members.

The fire broke out between 6 am and 7 am in waters off Sumenep regency, according to Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency, or Basarnas.

By Sunday afternoon, several nearby vessels managed to rescue 225 passengers and crew and recovered five bodies. At least 41 people remained unaccounted for.

Basarnas said that some passengers who jumped into the sea were picked up by a nearby ship. Four other vessels were on standby near the ferry but could not approach because of the risk posed by flammable material on the ferry, it said.

What happened?

The ferry operator, PT Atosim Lampung Pelayaran, reported the incident to the Surabaya search and rescue office about an hour later, Basarnas said in a statement. It said the company received information from the ferry's captain that the vessel was on fire near the northern tip of Madura Island, but contact was later lost.

By 9:45 am, authorities determined the ferry was about 19 nautical miles north of Buruan Sapudi Island after communicating with the nearby cargo vessel Meratus Project 3, which was unable to approach the burning vessel closely because it was carrying a flammable load.

According to the AP report, search and rescue teams dispatched a rescue vessel from Surabaya, although officials estimated it would take about six hours to reach the scene. A rigid inflatable boat from the Sumenep rescue post was sent to the location but later returned to shore due to rough seas and high waves. The Indonesian Navy also deployed a warship to assist.

Footage released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed thick black smoke billowing from one side of the ferry and spreading across much of the ship while videos circulating on social media and messaging groups showed terrified passengers, mostly wearing life jackets, could be seen clustered on the deck and upper sections of the vessel awaiting rescue, some jumping into the sea as orange flames and black smoke billowed from the burning vessel.

The ferry was reported to be nearly engulfed by flames, with passengers gathered on the bridge and bow. A tugboat and another passing vessel moved in and began evacuating passengers shortly before 10 am, the statement said.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known and remained under investigation.

Indonesia is no stranger to marine accidents

Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, partly due to lax safety standards and unpredictable weather.

A ferry transporting more than 70 people sank last month while sailing near Selayar, a small tropical island south of the much larger Sulawesi. At least four people were found dead, and 14 others remained missing until the end of the search operation.