Three killed, 568 survive after Indonesian ferry catches fire at sea

Indonesian rescuers evacuating people from a passenger ferry that caught fire at sea said Monday more than 560 were rescued and three died.

The KM Barcelona 5 caught fire around midday Sunday while heading to Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, on its regular half-day journey from Melonguane port in Talaud Islands district in the same province, according to First Adm Franky Pasuna Sihombing, chief of the Manado navy base.

A coast guard ship, six rescue vessels and several inflatable boats were deployed in the rescue operation, Sihombing said. The crews pulled many people from the sea and took them to nearby islands, and local fishermen also saved some survivors wearing life jackets as they were drifting in the choppy waters.

Photos and videos circulated on social media showed terrified passengers, mostly wearing life jackets, jumping into the sea as orange flames and black smoke billowed from the burning vessel.

The search and rescue operation was continuing, though there were no immediate reports of people still missing. Authorities previously said five people had died, but the National Search and Rescue Agency revised it to three early Monday after two passengers initially reported as dead were saved in a hospital, including a 2-month-old baby whose lungs were filled with seawater.

The fire that began in the ferry's stern was extinguished within an hour, Sihombing said. The ferry's manifest initially registered only 280 passengers and 15 crew members but the national rescue agency confirmed 568 survivors had been rescued and three bodies recovered, including a pregnant woman.

It is common for the number of passengers on a boat or ferry to differ from the manifest in Indonesia. This discrepancy can contribute to accidents and can complicate search and rescue efforts, Sihombing said.

The capacity of the ferry is 600 people.

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.

A speedboat carrying 18 people capsized during a storm July 14, and all its occupants were found rescued by the next day. Earlier in the month, a ferry sank near Indonesia's resort island of Bali, leaving at least 19 dead and 16 others missing. A two-week search operation involved more than 600 rescuers, three navy ships, 15 boats, a helicopter and divers.