13 People Lose Their Lives As A Passenger Ship Catches Fire In Indonesia

Rescuers recovered 13 dead bodies and rescued 263 individuals as a fire broke out on a passenger vessel in the waters on Monday, off central Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara.

Among the survivors, some reportedly suffered from injuries, mentioned Saidar Rahmanjaya, the head of the provincial search and rescue operation.

The death toll was 13; he informed the Xinhua news agency over a call.
He added that the search and rescue operation was paused and would resume on Tuesday.

Rahmanjaya, the field coordinator of the rescue and search operation, mentioned that the rescue operation involved some individuals from his office, another passenger vessel, and some sailors from that area.

He refused to give the number of missing people in the accident, stressing that he’d focus on the end-to-end rescue operation.

The evacuation of passengers and crew members immediately occurred after the fire broke out. Putu Sudayana, the head of the local search and rescue office, told the news agency over a call.

However, he reported that huge, strong waves affected the evacuation of individuals onboard the vessel.

The ship, Shantika Lestari, caught on fire as it was sailing in the waters off Kupang city, the province’s capital, per Richard Pelt, a senior and relevant official associated with the mitigation and disaster management agency of the area.

The ship set sail from a seaport in Kupang city and was headed toward Alor; he informed the news agency.