Tourist Ferry Catches Fire in Indonesia: 1 Dead
One person was killed and 172 people were rescued after a passenger ferry departing from Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali caught fire.
A passenger ferry departing from Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali caught fire off the coast of Lombok. Indonesian authorities said 172 people were rescued during search and rescue operations launched following the incident, in which one person died. Search and rescue efforts are continuing for missing passengers, while it was reported that the ferry had departed from Padangbai Port bound for Lembar Port in Lombok, part of West Nusa Tenggara province. Authorities said 200 personnel were involved in the operations, adding that only one of the rescued passengers was Australian, while the others were Indonesian.
Heri Wiyanto, an official at Bali’s Padangbai Port, said the ferry’s passenger list recorded only 114 passengers and 17 crew members. However, it was reported that there were more passengers on board than indicated on the passenger list. An investigation into the fire on the ferry is ongoing.
About a month ago, the ferry named KM Mutiara Sentosa 2 also caught fire off the coast of Madura Island, killing five people.
