Indonesian rescuers found three people dead and evacuated 300 from the blazing wreckage of a ferry off the coast of Java, an official said yesterday, considerably more than were originally said to have been on board the vessel.
On Thursday evening, the KM Santika Nusantara was traveling between Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, and the town of Balikpapan on Borneo when it caught fire, government official Syahrul Nugroho told broadcaster TV One.
It was initially reported that there were 277 people on board.
Photo: AP
A statement from the Basarnas Rescue Agency yesterday said it was confirmed that there were 303 people on board, three of whom were killed.
“The search will continue today,” Basarnas official Budi Prasetyo said.
Basarnas deployed ships from nearby ports and an aircraft for air monitoring.
Acknowledging the discrepancy in the number of people said to have been on board, Prasetyo added that many passengers had not listed their names on the ferry’s manifest.
Officials have given no details about the possible cause of the fire.
Rescue efforts were complicated by the boat’s manifest listing only 111 passengers, officials said.
Ferries are an important means of transport in Indonesia, which is made up of about 17,000 islands. Sea connections are cheaper and more extensive than air links, but safety standards are not always strictly enforced and accidents occur fairly often.
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