A blaze on an Indonesian passenger ferry leaves at least 5 dead and dozens missing

In this photo made from video released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, smoke billows from passenger ship Mutiara Santosa 2 after it caught fire in the waters off Madura Island, Indonesia. BASARNAS/via AP hide caption SURABAYA, Indonesia — An Indonesian ferry carrying 271 people caught fire in waters off the main island of Java on Sunday, leaving at least five people dead and dozens missing as rescuers and passing vessels evacuated hundreds from the burning ship, officials said. The Mutiara Sentosa 2 ferry was traveling from Indonesia's second-largest city of Surabaya in East Java to the city of Makassar in South Sulawesi, with 232 passengers, 39 crew members and 181 vehicles, mostly trucks, and an excavator, when the fire broke out between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. in waters off Sumenep regency, according to Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency, or Basarnas. A tugboat and another passing vessel moved in and began evacuating passengers shortly before 10 a.m., the statement said.

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