Indonesian ferry fire kills 5, dozens missing off Madura Island

A passenger ferry fire off Madura Island left at least five people dead and 41 others unaccounted for after the vessel carried 271 passengers and crew members into the Java Sea. Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency said 225 people had been rescued as crews and local boats raced to the scene.

The ferry was traveling from Surabaya in East Java province to Makassar in South Sulawesi when the blaze broke out. The ship was identified as the Mutiara Sentosa 2 in some coverage, and video released by Basarnas showed the vessel engulfed in flames as smoke spread across the water.

Some passengers jumped into the sea to escape the fire, while nearby ships, tugboats and local fishermen joined the rescue effort. Many of the survivors were pulled from the water wearing life jackets, underscoring how quickly a routine crossing turned into a mass-casualty emergency.

The incident struck at a familiar pressure point in Indonesia, where ferry travel remains a key mode of transport between islands. In a country spread across one of the world’s largest archipelagos, the loss of five lives and the disappearance of 41 passengers put a harsh spotlight on the stakes of maritime safety, especially when hundreds of people depend on a single vessel to move between major population centers.

Basarnas said the search-and-rescue operation was underway as crews worked through the aftermath off Madura Island. The fire added another deadly chapter to a transport system that is essential to daily life in Indonesia, yet vulnerable when emergency response depends on nearby vessels, fishermen and passengers themselves getting people out alive.