Search for survivors of ferry disaster
Indonesian navy ships scoured the sea today for survivors from a ferry that caught fire in the Java sea, killing at least 16 people and sending terrified passengers jumping off the vessel to escape the blaze.
More than a dozen people were still missing today following Indonesia’s second major maritime disaster in two months, said Navy spokesman Lt Col Hendra Pakan.
Some 275 people were rescued from the boat.
Five ships and a two helicopters were searching the seas close to where the Levina I caught fire yesterday soon after it left the capital, Jakarta, on a trip to a north-western island, he said.
The fire apparently started from a truck on the cargo deck before quickly spreading, officials have cited witnesses as saying.
A cargo hand said a woman handed him her 18-month-old baby and jumped overboard.
“I tried to scale a rope, but was knocked into the water by a falling passenger, still clutching the baby,” said Heru, 29, who goes by one name.
“I swam to a water cooler and then spotted the mother clinging to another cooler nearby. The baby was crying ’Mama! Mama! and she insisted I hand over the child,” he said, adding that 15 minutes later, large waves pulled them both under.
“Now they’re gone.”
