Indonesia: 60 dead, missing as ferry catches fire

Rescuers transfer victims of the ferry accident.(Photo: EPA/VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - At least 23 people were killed, 20 were wounded and 17 others went missing after a ferry with about 200 people aboard caught fire off the coast of Jakarta, Indonesia, on January 1.

Officials of search and rescue agency of Jakarta said that the accident happened when the Zahro Express ferry was en route from the capital’s Muara Angke port to Tidung island, a travel destination 50km away from Jakarta.

Most of the victims were found near the emergency door in the ferry’s front. The ferry has been towed to Muara Angke port. The cause of the accident is not clear.

The Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is heavily dependent on boat transport, but safety standards are lax and fatal accidents common.

In November 2016, at least 54 people died when a boat carrying 101 people, mostly migrant workers, sank on its way from Malaysia to Batam, Indonesia.-VNA