Fidelis E. Satriastanti – At least 19 people were killed after a fire broke out aboard a ferry crossing the Sunda Strait from Java to Sumatra early on Friday, officials said, although the cause of the inferno remains unknown.
The fire in the vehicle deck of the KM Laut Teduh II was first reported back to shore by the ferry's captain at 3:59 a.m., 40 minutes after embarking from Merak Port in Banten.
Panicked passengers jumped off the vessel and into the sea to escape the flames. At that point, the vessel was 3.7 kilometers from Merak and close to Tempurung Island in the strait.
Some of those killed were reported to have drowned, while others were believed to have suffered fatal head wounds in the rush to escape. It remains unclear if any were killed as a direct result of the fire.
A joint rescue team was immediately scrambled to pick up the passengers. Rescuers included personnel from the Banten Port Authority, the Navy, police, fire department and state-run ASDP Indonesia Ferry.
According to the Transportation Ministry, the team managed to rescue 425 people, including 31 crew members. All the injured were taken to Krakatau Medika Hospital and Panggung Rawi Hospital in Cilegon, Banten.
Rescuers also recovered 13 bodies of those killed, the ministry said. "The evacuation process was conducted using 12 ships and three tugboats," it said in a statement issued later in the day. "There are three more ships still surveying the area."
However, police in Bandarlampung, Lampung, where the ferry was headed, said on Friday evening that the death toll had reached 19. Lampung Police Chief Brig. Gen. Sulistyo Ishak said the number of fatalities could climb as bodies were recovered from the sea and the burned-out ferry.
Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for the Transportation Ministry, said authorities were now investigating how the blaze started.
"Lots of parties are involved in this investigation, including the police, port authorities and also the ministry," he said. "The police lead the investigation, however there will also be an independent investigation carried out by the KNKT [National Transportation Safety Committee]."
He declined to confirm reports that the fire might have been sparked by a lit cigarette butt.
Djoko Sulaksono, a spokesman for the ministry's Directorate General of Land Transportation, said the fire likely started in one of the vehicles being ferried across. "We suspect it started in one of the buses on the ferry, but we can't confirm that yet," he said.