11 Indonesian sailors missing after ship catches fire in Indian Ocean

Jakarta, May 20

A search operation for 11 Indonesian sailors, who went missing after their ship caught fire in the Indian Ocean, a rescuer said.

The fire broke out on the sailor ship, KM Serba Prima 8, on Tuesday, but the incident was found out by the Indonesian rescuers on Friday after two other sailors, who were rescued by a sailor ship, arrived in a seaport in Cilacap city of Central Java province on Friday and reported the incident, said Fazzli A, head of Jakarta search and rescue office.

“We deployed our personnel to the scene and conducted coordination with the rescue offices situated in the areas where the victims might be found,” he told Xinhua by phone.

“We have also coordinated with the joint rescue coordination centre of Australia,” he added.

The fire occurred while all the sailors were sleeping and after they woke up, the fire had already become too big for them to put out, according to him, Xinhua news agency reported.

All the sailors jumped into the waters and two of them were rescued by a sailor ship on Wednesday, he added.