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Indonesian rescuers search for missing passengers after ferry fire

Officials say the passenger total appears to have differed from the manifest, leaving the number missing unclear as the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Emerging Markets

Indonesian rescuers searched Monday for possible missing passengers after a fire aboard the ferry Mutiara Sentosa 2 killed at least five people off the main island of Java, according to the Associated Press via SCMP Economy. Rescuers had pulled 231 people from the water after the fire broke out the previous day, with passengers reporting they jumped overboard and stayed afloat for hours before rescue.

The ferry was traveling from Surabaya in East Java to Makassar in South Sulawesi. Initial reports placed the vessel at 271 people, including 39 crew members, based on the ship’s manifest, but by Monday officials said many more people were aboard than listed, and the number of missing was unclear.

Authorities said they were relying on reports from families of victims and survivors to determine how many people were missing. Nanang Sigit, the search mission coordinator who heads the Surabaya Search and Rescue Office, said discrepancies between manifests and actual passenger counts are common in Indonesia and can complicate search and rescue efforts.

Indonesian navy ships assisted, along with passing vessels, at the scene about 35km north of Sapudi island in the Sumenep regency, while the cause of the fire remained under investigation.

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