Rescuers recovered 13 bodies and rescued 263 people, as a fire broke out on a passenger ship, in the waters off East Nusa Tenggara province, in central Indonesia, yesterday, rescuers said.

Among the survivors, some suffered from injuries, said Saidar Rahmanjaya, head of the operation unit, of the provincial search and rescue office.

“The total death toll stood at 13 now,” he said, over the phone.

He said, the search and rescue operation was halted yesterday, and it would resume today.

Rahmanjaya, who is also the field coordinator of the search and rescue operation, said, rescue operation involved people from his office, another passenger ship and sailors from the area.

He declined to give the number of missing persons in the accident, stressing that, he would focus on the rescue operation.

The evacuation of passengers and crew members of the ship was immediately carried out after the fire broke out, Putu Sudayana, head of the provincial search and rescue office, said.

However, he said that, huge waves hampered the evacuation of the passengers of the ship.

The ship, Shantika Lestari, caught fire when it was sailing in the waters, off Kupang city, the capital of the province, according to Richard Pelt, a senior official of the provincial disaster management and mitigation agency.

The ship departed from a seaport in Kupang city and was heading to the Alor district of the province, he told media, over the phone.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK