Rescue teams search for 28 missing after ferry fire in Indonesia

An official said that Indonesian rescue teams continued on Monday to search for 28 missing people after a fire broke out on a ferry off the coast of Madura Island.

Authorities said the ferry, KM Mutiara Santosa, was traveling from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city in East Java province, to Makassar in South Sulawesi province when the fire broke out on Sunday. The ferry was carrying 271 people.

Madura Island is located off the northeastern coast of Java.

Arman Asmoro Syarifuddin, director of maritime and aviation affairs at the East Java police, told Reuters that 28 of the 271 people on board remained missing, five deaths had been confirmed, and 238 others had been rescued.

He added that the search operation would continue for seven days, but could be extended by an additional 14 days.

He noted that the cause of the fire remained unknown.

Indonesia, an archipelago comprising some 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries as a primary mode of transport, as sea travel is less expensive and more accessible than flying.

However, safety standards are not always strictly enforced, leading to relatively frequent accidents.