Indonesian search and rescue workers carry victims after a boat caught fire in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on October 24, 2022. (Olivier/AFP via Getty Images)
JAKARTA, Indonesia—A passenger ship carrying 240 people caught fire off the coast of southern Indonesia on Monday, killing 14, rescuers said.
The KM Express Kantika 77 caught fire on its way from Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara to Karabahi. Officials said there were 230 passengers and 10 crew members.
They were investigating the cause of the fire.
The Kupang Search and Rescue Agency and nearby ship rescuers have recovered 226 survivors, the National Search and Rescue Agency said in a statement. 14 people have been confirmed dead.
Ferry and boat tragedies are common in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands. In Indonesia, ferries are heavily used for transportation and are not sufficiently safe.
In 2018, an overcrowded ferry carrying about 200 people sank into a volcanic crater lake in North Sumatra, killing 167 people.
In February 1999, an overcrowded passenger liner with 332 people on board sank in one of the worst recorded disasters in the country. There were only 20 survivors.
follow