Fire on Indonesia ferry kills three, over 500 passengers jump to safety

Social media videos amusement terrified passengers jumping into oversea arsenic flames and achromatic fume billow from burning vessel.

Three radical person died and much than 500 others person been rescued aft a ferry caught occurrence disconnected the Indonesian land of Sulawesi, exigency officials said.

Passengers jumped overboard the KM Barcelona 5, arsenic it sailed from Melonguane larboard successful Talaud Islands territory towards the metropolis of Manado, the superior of North Sulawesi province, aft the occurrence broke retired connected Sunday, said the Indonesian coastguard.

Photos and videos circulated connected societal media showed terrified passengers, mostly wearing beingness jackets, jumping into the oversea arsenic orangish flames and achromatic fume billowed from the burning vessel.

A video released by the Manado rescue bureau showed a coastguard vas spraying h2o connected the ferry, which was emitting achromatic smoke.

Indonesian authorities antecedently reported 5 radical died successful the accident, but aboriginal revised the decease toll to 3 aft 2 passengers initially reported arsenic dormant were saved successful a hospital, including a two-month-old babe whose lungs were filled with seawater.

At slightest 568 radical were rescued from the ferry, the nationalist hunt and rescue bureau said successful a connection connected Monday.

A coastguard ship, six rescue vessels and respective inflatable boats were deployed successful the rescue operation, Franky Pasuna Sihombing, main of the Manado navy base, told The Associated Press quality agency.

According to officials, the blaze is believed to person started connected the precocious deck.

“Until now, the associated rescue squad is inactive conducting the hunt and rescue cognition due to the fact that the information is inactive developing,” Manado rescue bureau caput George Leo Mercy Randang told the AFP quality bureau connected Monday. “Our station is inactive unfastened 24 hours a day, successful lawsuit families privation to study astir their missing relative.”

One subsister described waking up to fume filling the rider deck.

“The aerial was afloat of fume and everyone started panicking,” Johan Rumewo told Kompas TV aft being evacuated to Manado port. “I managed to drawback a beingness overgarment and jumped into the sea. I floated for astir an hr earlier being rescued.”

The ferry’s log had registered lone 280 passengers and 15 unit connected board. Local media reported that the vessel had a capableness for 600 people.

Marine accidents are a regular occurrence successful the Southeast Asian archipelago of astir 17,000 islands, successful portion owed to lax information standards oregon atrocious weather.

Sunday’s occurrence came conscionable weeks aft different ferry sank off the fashionable edifice land of Bali owed to atrocious weather, sidesplitting astatine slightest 19 people.

In March, a vessel carrying 16 radical capsized successful unsmooth waters disconnected Bali, sidesplitting an Australian pistillate and injuring different person. In 2018, much than 150 radical drowned erstwhile a ferry sank successful 1 of the world’s deepest lakes connected Sumatra Island.