Jakarta: Five people were killed, and 41 others remained missing after the Mutiara Santosa 2 caught fire in the Java Sea north of Madura Island in Indonesia’s East Java province, the National Search and Rescue Agency said Sunday.
A total of 225 people had been evacuated, the agency said.
The vessel, operating on the Surabaya-Makassar route, was carrying 271 people, including 232 passengers and 39 crew members.
The vessel departed from Surabaya, East Java, for Makassar on Sulawesi Island on Sunday morning, according to the Surabaya Search and Rescue Office.
Authorities said the vessel was about 19 nautical miles (35.2 km) offshore when it was almost completely engulfed in flames, with passengers gathering on the bridge and at the bow as they waited to be evacuated, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Several nearby vessels took part in the rescue operation, while a joint search and rescue team deployed additional vessels and personnel to evacuate survivors and search for the missing.
The search operation remains underway, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
In June, Indonesian search and rescue authorities suspended an operation for 14 people still missing after the KM Nurul Salsa passenger boat sank off South Sulawesi province.
The National Search and Rescue Agency said the operation was temporarily closed after a 10-day search yielded no new leads, despite all designated search areas being thoroughly covered.
Of the 76 people confirmed to have been on board, 58 were rescued, four were found dead, and 14 remained unaccounted for, according to the agency.
The agency said evacuation efforts would be launched if new information emerged indicating that any of the missing victims had been located.
The vessel sank after suffering engine failure in waters off South Sulawesi on July 15 while travelling from Jampea Island to Benteng.
(IANS)
