"Based on Information From the Shipping Company, the Fire Occurred at Around 06:00-07:00 (00:00-01:00 GMT), the Agency Said

Five people have been found dead and 41 are missing after an Indonesian ferry carrying at least 250 people caught fire while at sea, officials said. The captain reported the blaze off Madura island as the vessel sailed from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city in East Java, to Makassar in South Sulawesi, according to Basarnas, the National Search and Rescue Agency. Footage aired by local outlet iNews showed large numbers of passengers in life jackets on what appeared to be a lifeboat, while other clips captured people climbing down from the ferry as flames and thick plumes of smoke rose from the top of the vessel.

Basarnas posted a video to TikTok, stating that at 08:24 (02:24 GMT) the Surabaya Search and Rescue office received information that the passenger ship KMP Mutiara Sentosa 2 was on fire. "Based on information from the shipping company, the fire occurred at around 06:00-07:00 (00:00-01:00 GMT), the agency said. Later, Basarnas confirmed the ferry "was almost entirely engulfed in flames" as "passengers held on in the ship's bridge and bow while awaiting rescue.

The cause of the fire remained unclear, the statement added. In some footage, passengers could be seen jumping into the sea, with crowds in life jackets gathering and lifebuoys being thrown to some before they were carried into a rescue ship.