JAKARTA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- At least four people were killed and 19 others missing as a passenger ship caught fire in the waters off East Java province in central parts of Indonesia, an official said on Friday evening.
The ship, named "KM Santika Nusantara", caught fire when it was passing the waters off Maselembu in Sumenep district on Thursday night and the fire had not been doused, according to provincial search and rescue office.
"Three bodies have been removed to a health clinic and another body is transporting ashore. The four bodies are parts of the 23 missing persons. So now, the missing persons decreases to 19," Abd. Rahman Riyadi, head of the disaster management agency in the district told Xinhua via phone.
The official cited that 80 to 90 survivors of the ship accident had been saved.
Spokesman of the transport ministry Hengki Angkasawan told Xinhua that the number of passenger and crew on board reached 111 people.
The ship was en route to a sea port in Balikpapan of East Kalimantan province.
