At least five people were killed and 41 remained missing after a passenger ferry carrying 271 people caught fire off Indonesia’s Madura Island on Sunday, prompting a major search-and-rescue operation, Indonesian authorities said.
Reuters reported on Sunday that Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency said at least 225 passengers and crew had been rescued by Sunday afternoon, while emergency teams continued searching surrounding waters for those still unaccounted for.
The ferry was traveling from Surabaya in East Java province to Makassar in South Sulawesi when the fire broke out near Madura Island, off the northeastern coast of Java. Authorities deployed multiple rescue vessels to evacuate survivors and search for the missing.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known, and an investigation has been launched to determine what triggered the blaze.
The incident is the latest in a series of fatal maritime accidents in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where ferries are a primary means of transportation. Safety experts have long cited overcrowding, aging vessels and weak enforcement of maritime regulations as contributing factors to recurring ferry disasters.
In July 2025, at least three people were killed and around 150 others rescued after the KM Barcelona 5 caught fire off North Sulawesi. In 2021, all 195 passengers and crew aboard the KM Karya Indah were rescued after a fire forced them to abandon ship in the Molucca Sea.
Indonesia has pledged to strengthen maritime safety following a series of deadly ferry accidents, but fatal incidents continue to occur, underscoring ongoing concerns over vessel safety standards and regulatory oversight.
