Indonesian search and rescue teams have evacuated 233 of the 238 individuals recorded on the ferry KM Mutiara Sentosa 2 after a fire broke out while the vessel was en route from Surabaya to Makassar, the national rescue agency said on Tuesday. The operation concluded with authorities reporting a total of five deaths.
Officials said the ferry was travelling from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city in East Java province, to Makassar in South Sulawesi when the fire occurred on Sunday. Mohammad Syafii, the head of the country's search and rescue agency, told reporters that the official manifest listed 238 people in total, encompassing both passengers and crew.
Earlier on Monday, authorities had provided a different figure, saying the total number aboard was 271. Syafii confirmed the revised manifest total and noted that the current death toll stands at five. An investigation into what sparked the blaze is ongoing, he added.
While rescue teams report that everyone on the manifest has been located, Syafii cautioned that the search could be resumed should family members come forward saying a relative has not been found. He described the ordeal faced by passengers, noting that those rescued were wearing life jackets and spent hours stranded at sea. Some evacuees fell into the water from a height of about 10 metres during the incident.
The episode underscores the centrality of ferry travel in Indonesia, an archipelago of roughly 17,000 islands where sea routes remain more affordable and accessible than air travel for many. At the same time, authorities acknowledge that safety standards are not always consistently applied across the sector, and accidents occur with relative frequency.
With the formal rescue effort concluded for now, investigators will focus on determining how the fire started and whether procedural or technical failures contributed to the incident. Officials have not announced findings and indicated that inquiries are continuing.
Key factual takeaways:
- KM Mutiara Sentosa 2 caught fire on Sunday while en route from Surabaya to Makassar.
- The rescue agency says 233 of 238 people on the manifest were evacuated; five people died.
- An investigation into the cause of the fire is under way; authorities may resume searches if families report missing relatives.