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A ferry fire off Indonesia's Madura Island has left at least five people dead, and 41 missing, local media reported Sunday. The cause of the blaze remained unclear.
The ferry was traveling from Surabaya in East Java province to Makassar in South Sulawesi with 271 passengers and crew members on board. Authorities said 225 people had been rescued.
Search and rescue teams dispatched a vessel from Surabaya, expected to take about six hours to reach the scene, while a rigid inflatable boat from Sumenep turned back due to rough seas. The Indonesian Navy also deployed a warship to assist.
Footage showed people jumping into the sea, with crowds gathering in life jackets as lifebuoys were thrown to them before they were pulled aboard a rescue ship.
Nanang Sigit, head of the Surabaya Search and Rescue Office, said several nearby vessels had joined the rescue operation, adding the ferry was located about 19 nautical miles from Buruan Sapudi Island, the nearest land.
Later, Basarnas, the National Search and Rescue Agency, said it got confirmation the ferry "was almost entirely engulfed in flames" as "passengers held on in the ship's bridge and bow while awaiting rescue."
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