Pregnant woman is among at least five dead after ferry carrying hundreds of people bursts into flames in Indonesia - with frantic families seen leaping into the sea to escape
More than 280 people were rescued and evacuation efforts were ongoing following the incident on Sunday.
The KM Barcelona 5 was headed to Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, from Talaud, an island district in the province, when it caught fire in waters near Talise, Vice Admiral Denih Hendrata, commander of the Indonesian Fleet Command, said.
The senior officer said that three navy ships had been deployed, and 284 passengers and crew members had so far been evacuated.
But Manado SAR Office Public Relations Officer Nuriadin Gumeleng stated one tragic victim was a pregnant woman who had been referred from Talaud to Manado.
'Currently, only one person has been identified as having died, a pregnant woman. Her body is now on land,' Gumeleng told local news site Harian Jogja.
The rescue operation included assistance from local fishermen, who saved some survivors wearing life jackets as they were drifting to nearby islands in the choppy waters.
Some passengers filmed the wreckage a distance away as they recounted the horrifying events
There were no immediate reports of injuries, and no exact figures of passengers and crew members onboard the ferry.
Striking footage of the incident shows the vessel entirely engulfed in bright orange flames as plumes of grey smoke tower above the wreckage.
A woman can be heard crying uncontrollably in a recording of the ruined ferry that shows a number of passengers in orange life vests forced to enter the sea as they sit on the edge of the vessel.
The camera then reveals several dozen people already in the water after swimming away from the boat.
Another video appears to show a toddler rescued from the sea by a man who relays his account of the horrifying events.
He is recorded filming the wreckage a distance away and clutching the young child in his arms who coughs as the man narrates.
In one chilling broadcast uploaded to Facebook a passenger named Abdul Rahmad Agu pleaded: 'We are burning at sea... we need help... fast...'.
Rescue operations are ongoing with emergency teams racing to account for all passengers.
A Manado KSOP officer named the three rescue ships dispatched to the scene as the KM Barcelona III, KM Venecian, and KM Cantika Lestari 9F.
The ferry was scheduled to dock at Manado Port when disaster struck, local outlet IDN Times reports.
Families of those onboard have been urged to stay calm and await official updates.
Just days earlier, at least 38 people died after tourist boat carrying 53 passengers capsized in Vietnam.
High winds struck Halong Bay, the Wonder Sea boat, and according to Vn Express, rescue crews recovered 37 bodies and saved 11 survivors - with five still unaccounted for.
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