Indonesia ferry fire off Madura leaves at least five dead, 41 missing

A ferry carrying around 250 passengers and crew caught fire off Indonesia’s Madura Island, leaving at least five people dead and 41 missing. Passengers jumped into the sea as flames spread, and several vessels rushed in to pull survivors from the water.

Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, BASARNAS, joined the navy and the Maritime Security Agency in the emergency response, a reminder of how quickly an inter-island passenger run can turn into a mass rescue. The scale of the incident raised immediate questions about how a crowded vessel could ignite so far from shore and how much room responders had to work once the fire took hold.

The Madura fire came barely a year after another major ferry disaster in Indonesian waters. In July 2025, the KM Barcelona 5 caught fire at sea off Sulawesi while traveling from Melonguane port in Talaud Islands district toward Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province. More than 560 people were rescued from that vessel, and early reports placed the death toll at three, while others said at least five died.

Taken together, the two fires point to a recurring hazard in one of the world’s busiest ferry networks. Indonesia depends heavily on ferries to connect its islands, but every large blaze at sea exposes the same fragile chain: crowded passenger loads, fast-moving fires, and rescue teams that must reach the scene before the vessel becomes a trap.