MANADO, Indonesia — A passenger ferry carrying hundreds of people caught fire at sea Sunday off Sulawesi island in Indonesia, killing at least five people, officials said. More than 280 people were rescued and evacuation efforts were ongoing.
The KM Barcelona 5 was headed to Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, from Talaud, an island district in the province when it caught fire in waters near Talise, said Vice Adm. Denih Hendrata, commander of the Indonesian Fleet Command.
He said that three navy ships had been deployed, and 284 passengers and crew members had been evacuated so far. The rescue operation included assistance from local fishermen, who saved some survivors wearing life jackets as they were drifting to nearby islands in the choppy waters.
Rescuers retrieved five bodies, including a pregnant woman.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, and no exact figures of passengers and crew members onboard the ferry.
“We are still focusing on evacuation efforts,” Denih said, adding that the cause of the fire was being investigated.
Video shared by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed flames billowing from the ferry as multiple people could be seen in the water in orange life jackets. Passengers were rescued using smaller boats, including inflatable ones, and taken to shore.
The National Search and Rescue Agency said that the exact number of passengers evacuated from the vessel "is still in process" and that some are receiving medical treatment.
The agency "continues to search the area of approximate location of the burned ferry to make sure there aren’t any passengers that have been left behind or adrift on sea," it said.
Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where ferries are a common method of travel. Disasters occur regularly, with weak safety enforcement often blamed.
Residents of Mentawai Islands found several people stranded on July 14 after a speedboat carrying 18 people capsized during a storm the day before, authorities said. All were in good condition.
A ferry sank near Indonesia’s resort island of Bali early this month, leaving at least 19 dead and 16 others missing. A two-week search operation involved more than 1,000 rescuers, three navy ships, 15 boats, a helicopter and divers.
