5 Killed After A Boat Carrying Almost 200 Passengers Caught Fire In Indonesia!

A boat carrying nearly 200 people caught fire on Friday afternoon in the waters off the archipelago’s main Java island and killed at least five people.

The agency said the fire might have caused by a short circuit in one of the trucks carried on board.

The national search and rescue agency’s operations director, Ivan Ahmad Riski, said 193 people have been rescued. The number of missing was unclear.

The agency’s initial figure for the number of people aboard, apparently based on the vessel’s manifest, was 178.

It is not uncommon for ferries, a regular form of transport in the Indonesian archipelago, to be overcrowded or to carry more passengers than declared.

Riski said survivors told authorities that the fire started on the ferry’s vehicle deck and spread uncontrollably, forcing the captain to order all on board to abandon ship.  

In panic, some people jumped into the sea without wearing lifejackets or waiting for lifeboats, they said, according to Riski.

Two helicopters and several ships searched for survivors throughout Saturday.