460 Rescued as Burning Ferry Sends Thick Smoke Off Java Coast
(MENAFN) A passenger ferry erupted in flames off Indonesia’s Java island on Tuesday, triggering an hours-long emergency operation that got all 460 people aboard to safety, local media reported.
The vessel, KMP Batumandi, was carrying 420 passengers and 40 crew members when the fire broke out near Merak Besar Island in Banten province, according to a local English-language daily that cited rescue officials.
Responders threw 18 vessels and support units into the effort, among them rescue boats, tugboats, patrol craft and fishing boats, to fight the blaze and pull people off the ship.
Footage broadcast by several television networks showed dense black smoke pouring from the ferry as frightened passengers rushed to escape.
Authorities have not yet identified what started the fire.
Merak is a key ferry hub linking Java and Sumatra across the Sunda Strait, one of Indonesia’s busiest sea crossings.
The incident adds to a grim maritime record in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands. Last month, more than 80 people died when a ferry capsized in the Java Sea.
The vessel, KMP Batumandi, was carrying 420 passengers and 40 crew members when the fire broke out near Merak Besar Island in Banten province, according to a local English-language daily that cited rescue officials.
Responders threw 18 vessels and support units into the effort, among them rescue boats, tugboats, patrol craft and fishing boats, to fight the blaze and pull people off the ship.
Footage broadcast by several television networks showed dense black smoke pouring from the ferry as frightened passengers rushed to escape.
Authorities have not yet identified what started the fire.
Merak is a key ferry hub linking Java and Sumatra across the Sunda Strait, one of Indonesia’s busiest sea crossings.
The incident adds to a grim maritime record in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands. Last month, more than 80 people died when a ferry capsized in the Java Sea.
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