In waters near Bali, Indonesia, rescue teams saved 211 people and recovered the body of a passenger from a ferry that caught fire on Wednesday. The vessel, Putri Yasmin, was traveling from Bali to Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara province when a fire broke out around 4:15 a.m. The ferry carried 44 vehicles and 53 motorcycles.
The Mataram Search and Rescue Agency received an emergency alert about 30 minutes after the fire began and promptly dispatched personnel and rescue vessels.
“Our top priority is the safety of all passengers and crew members,” stated Muhammad Hariyadi, director of the agency.
Video footage released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed people wearing life vests crowded on an inflatable raft in stormy seas during the rescue operation. Thick black smoke was visible from the burning ferry.
By Wednesday afternoon, rescuers had evacuated 211 people, including two Australian tourists, and retrieved the body of a 19-year-old Indonesian woman. Initial reports indicated 131 people were on the ferry, including 17 crew members, as per the ship’s manifest. However, authorities later stated more people were aboard than listed.
Indonesia often sees discrepancies between the number of passengers on board ships and the official manifest. The Transport Minister, Dudy Purwagandhi, announced an investigation into the passenger count discrepancy.
“The findings will be thoroughly reviewed as part of the ministry’s evaluation,” Purwagandhi said. “This is a serious matter that will be thoroughly investigated.” He added that investigators were trying to determine the cause of the fire.
Syamsurizal, head of the Lembar Port Authority in Lombok, reported that survivors mentioned the fire appeared to start in a cargo truck before quickly spreading across the ferry. Some passengers had to jump into the sea due to the intense heat.
“The response operation continues, and authorities are still accounting for all victims,” stated Syamsurizal, who, like many Indonesians, uses a single name. He noted that at least two injured passengers were urgently transported to a nearby hospital.
Hariyadi mentioned that the rescue effort involved six vessels, a helicopter, two inflatable boats, and two private yachts. Rough seas with waves up to 4 meters (13 feet) complicated the rescue operations.
This incident occurred less than two weeks after another Indonesian ferry, Mutiara Sentosa 2, caught fire off Java’s main island, resulting in at least five deaths. Indonesia, an archipelago with over 17,000 islands, frequently uses ferries for transport. Disasters are common and often attributed to lax enforcement of safety regulations.
Contributions to this report were made by correspondents Edna Tarigan and Andi Jatmiko in Jakarta, Indonesia.
This story was translated from English by an AP editor assisted by a generative AI tool.