23 Killed, 17 Injured in Indonesian Ferry Fire

At least 23 people have been killed and 17 others injured after a fire broke out on board a ferry on its way to one of Indonesia’s Thousand Islands, a popular tourist getaway for Jakartans, on New Year’s Day.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that another 17 people are still missing after the Zahro Express ferry, which was heading to Tidung Island, caught fire.


Thousand Islands police spokesman, Ferry Budiharso said the accident occurred at about 9.42am shortly after the ferry left Muara Angke Port in North Jakarta. He said three people died at the Atma Jaya hospital and another 20 bodies were found on the boat.

Mr Ferry also said the boat manifest had only listed 100 passengers on board, but 140 had already been rescued.
 “We suspect the boat was carrying more than the manifest,” he said. “The joint team is still evacuating and conducting the rescue.”
Aldi Munaldi, who was taking his family to Tidung Island for a holiday, told television program Liputan 6 that the incident happened 20 minutes after the ferry left port.
(The fire) started in the engine room in the back. Suddenly there was black smoke. We couldn’t breathe.”
Mr Aldi, whose mother suffered burns, said the ferry later exploded.
Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho tweeted that the ferry was charred and severely damaged.



The Thousand Islands are a chain of islands off the north of Jakarta’s coast, which are popular with tourists as well as Indonesians eager to escape the city.

Ferries in Indonesia have a poor safety record with accidents common across the archipelago. Last September two people died and 18 were injured after an explosion on a ferry travelling between East Bali and the Gili islands. In June 2015, 25 passengers, including four Australians, were injured in a fire on a fast ferry travelling between Lombok and Bali.

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