One dead, over 170 rescued after ferry fire between Bali and Lombok

Fire on the Putri Yasmin

The passenger ferry Putri Yasmin caught fire in the early morning of 12 August while crossing the Lombok Strait from Padang Bai on Bali to Lembar on the neighboring island of Lombok. According to the harbor authority, 114 passengers and 17 crew members were on board. Later reporting by La Libre, however, spoke of 172 evacuated passengers plus one fatality, a figure that conflicts with the harbor authority's count and remains unexplained. The cause of the fire has not been determined. Local media reported the blaze may have originated from a truck on the vehicle deck. A spokesperson for the Indonesian naval unit on Lombok said the ferry ran aground and lost power during the incident.

Rescue under difficult conditions

A large-scale rescue operation was launched with multiple ships and a surveillance helicopter dispatched to the scene, as reported by the Antara news agency citing rescue workers. Other vessels and ferries that happened to be nearby also altered course toward the burning ferry. Rescue efforts were hampered by strong wind, dense smoke, and high waves, according to rescue workers involved. Passengers were evacuated via at least three different vessels, including a naval ship and another ferry, according to Muhamad Hariyadi, head of the search and rescue agency in Mataram on Lombok. Search vessels and a surveillance helicopter remained in operation even after all visible passengers had been evacuated.

Conflicting casualty reports

Initial reports from the local authorities in Mataram indicated no casualties. Hariyadi told Metro TV that rescue teams had approached the vessel and visually confirmed no passengers remained on board. An earlier N-tv report from 06:09 stated that at least 106 people had already been brought to safety with no reports of casualties at that point. However, later reporting by La Libre confirmed that a 19-year-old Indonesian woman was declared dead, according to Hariyadi. An AFP photographer at Lembar observed one person brought ashore in a body bag. The N-tv and Tagesspiegel reports from around 06:51 had already acknowledged reports of a possible death without providing further details.

Survivor accounts

Kiky Okta Pradika, a 25-year-old survivor, told journalists at Lembar that he grabbed a life jacket before jumping overboard with several other passengers.

“It took several hours before help arrived.”

His account points to a delay between the outbreak of the fire and the arrival of rescue vessels, though no official timeline has been published.

Recurring safety concerns

The fire on the Putri Yasmin follows another deadly ferry blaze approximately ten days earlier on a vessel traveling from Java to Sulawesi. ZEIT ONLINE reported that more than 270 people were on board that earlier vessel. The death toll from the earlier incident has been reported differently across sources: an early N-tv dispatch cited four dead, while later N-tv and Tagesspiegel reports stated at least five people died with dozens more missing at sea. ZEIT ONLINE also referenced a 2006 ferry disaster in Indonesia that killed up to 500 people. In Indonesia, authorities often take years to formally declare missing persons dead. Whether foreigners were among the Putri Yasmin's passengers remained unclear.