One killed and 172 rescued after fire breaks out on ferry in Indonesia

Officials said Indonesian authorities rescued 172 people on Wednesday after a fire broke out on a ferry coming from the tourist island of Bali in waters off the coast of Lombok, as search operations continued for any other missing passengers.

Mohammad Hariadi, head of the local rescue authority, said the ferry, KM Putri Yasmin, departed from Padangbai port in Bali bound for Lembar port in Lombok, in the West Nusa Tenggara province.

He told Reuters the incident occurred in the Lombok Strait at 04:39 on Wednesday morning (20:39 GMT on Tuesday).

He added that one Indonesian national had been confirmed dead, and that 172 people had been evacuated to ports in Bali and Lombok by Wednesday evening.

An Australian citizen was among the survivors, while the rest were Indonesians.

Hariadi said, “We deployed several boats to carry out the evacuation and coordinated with other boats around the incident site,” noting that more than 200 personnel were deployed for the operation.

It remained unclear how the fire started on the ferry, or whether overcrowding was a factor in the incident.

Indonesia, an archipelago comprising 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries, which serve as a primary mode of transport because sea travel is cheaper and more accessible than air travel.

However, safety standards are not always strictly enforced, leading to a relatively high accident rate.