Five people have died and 41 remain missing after a fire broke out on an Indonesian ferry carrying 271 individuals. The incident occurred while the vessel was at sea, traveling from Surabaya, East Java, to Makassar in South Sulawesi.
Officials reported that the captain of the ship alerted authorities to the fire as the ferry sailed off Madura island. Footage shared by local Indonesian news outlet iNews showed numerous people in life jackets on what appeared to be a lifeboat, while other clips depicted passengers descending from the burning ferry, which was engulfed in flames and smoke.
The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) is coordinating the response to the incident.