Jakarta, August 2: A major sea rescue effort was launched in Indonesia following a deadly fire aboard a passenger ferry carrying nearly three hundred people on Sunday. Five bodies have been recovered so far, while rescue teams continue sweeping the water for 41 individuals who vanished after the vessel caught fire midway through its journey from Surabaya to Makassar.
The captain of the KMP Mutiara Sentosa 2 issued an emergency distress call as flames swept through the vessel, prompting nearby commercial ships to race toward the position reported by Basarnas, the national search agency.
“TB Hasnur 26 and the British Mentor are assisting in evacuating passengers who jumped from KMP Mutiara Sentosa 2,” declared Nanang Sigit, head of the Surabaya Search and Rescue Office. He asserted that four rescue craft managed to pull alongside the burning vessel to extract survivors directly from the sea.
Long-range assistance was also mobilized to reinforce the localized recovery effort. “SAR 249 Permadi is en route to the scene but had an estimated travel time of about six hours,” Nanang affirmed. Search units continue patrolling the waters in hopes of finding remaining survivors.
