Indonesia: Passengers rescued after Bali ferry catches fire

Indonesian authorities successfully rescued 172 passengers from a burning ferry near the tourist island of Bali on Wednesday. The fire broke out on the Padang Bai-Lembar ferry route, which connects Bali and Lombok and is frequently used by tourists. At least one person, a 19-year-old woman, was killed in the incident. Muhammad Hariyadi, head of the Mataram Search and Rescue Office, initially reported that all passengers had been disembarked from the burning ferry.

However, later he confirmed that a woman had been declared dead, and the final tally of passengers and crew was significantly higher than the initially estimated 131 people. The fire occurred around 4:15 a.m. (1045 GMT) while the ferry, Putri Yasmin, was en route from Padang Bai port in Bali to Lembar port on Lombok. Rescue efforts were complicated by rough seas with waves reaching 4 meters (13 feet).

A nearby ferry evacuated 30 passengers, and a rescue vessel brought 59 rescued passengers to Bali. A naval vessel picked up another 17 passengers, and two rescued individuals were Australian tourists. This is the second major ferry fire in Indonesia this month, following a fire off the coast of Java Island that claimed five lives last week.