Three people died and more than 500 others were rescued after a ferry caught fire on Indonesia Island in Sulawesi, emergency officials said Monday.
The passengers jumped through theboard with life jackets after the fire exploded on Sunday in the stern of Km Barcelona 5, while sailing towards Manado, according to the Coast Guard of Indonesia.
A video posted by the Manado rescue agency showed a coast guard bowl that spray water in the ferry, which emitted black smoke.
Indonesian authorities previously reported that five people died in the accident, but then reviewed the number of deaths to three.
“Until now, the joint rescue team is still carrying out the search and rescue operation because the data is still being developed,” said Manado rescue agency, George Leo Mercy Randang AFP Mondays.
“Our publication is still open 24 hours a day, in case families want to inform about their missing relative.” At least 568 people were rescued from ferry and water, while three others were found dead, said the National Search and Rescue Agency in a statement on Monday.
The Ferry registration had only registered 280 passengers and 15 crew on board. Local media reported that the ship had capacity for 600 people.
Marine accidents are a regular fact in the Southeast Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands, partly due to the standards of security or bad weather.
Sunday’s fire occurred only weeks after another Ferry sank on the popular tourist island of Bali due to bad weather, killing at least 19 people.
In March, a boat that transported 16 people overturned in the rough waters of Bali, kills an Australian woman and wounded at least another person.
And in 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank into one of the world’s deepest lakes on Sumatra Island.
