173 Evacuated from Burning KM Putri Yasmin Ferry

A total of 173 people have been evacuated from the KMP Putri Yasmin, which caught fire in the waters off Sekotong Beach, West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), on Wednesday (12/8).

I Gusti Lanang Wiswananda, Public Relations Officer for the Mataram Search and Rescue (SAR) Office, reported the confirmed number of evacuees at the SAR post. “Preliminary information confirmed at the SAR post indicates the total number of evacuees is 173 people,” he stated in a text message to CNNIndonesia.com.

Wiswananda said all victims were evacuated using several vessels, namely the KN SAR 220 Mataram, Portlink II, KAL Lembar, the yacht “no comment”, a Polairud vessel, and the yacht “stell here”. Fifty-nine victims, including one Australian national, were evacuated by the KN SAR 220 Mataram. A further 35 victims were evacuated by Portlink II and 18 by KAL Lembar. The yacht “no comment” also evacuated 58 victims; of these, 24 were transferred using an RBB, 25 were transferred using a Polairud vessel, and 9 were transferred using a RIB. The yacht “stellhere” evacuated three victims, one of whom was reported to have died.

At least 35 victims from the KMP Putri Yasmin were evacuated to Padangbai Port in Karangasem Regency, Bali. “There are 35 people, including 30 adults and 5 children. All are in good health and have been sent home,” said the Padangbai Port Police Chief, Kompol I Wayan Gede Wirya. He mentioned that the dozens of passengers were evacuated to Padangbai Port at around 09:30 WITA and sent home around 12:00 WITA, while other passengers were evacuated to Lembar Port in West Lombok.

The KMP Putri Yasmin was reportedly crossing from Padangbai Port in Karangasem, Bali, to Lembar Port in West Lombok, NTB, when the fire broke out. At around 04:39 WITA, the skipper of Rescue Boat (RB) 220 Mataram, Nurdin, reported the fire to the Mataram SAR Office. The incident occurred in the waters off Sekotong Beach at coordinates 8°43’12.37”S-115°47’35.93”E, approximately 16.84 Nautical Miles from the position of RB 220 Mataram. The evacuation was carried out by a joint team from the Mataram SAR Office, Denpasar SAR Office, KMP PortLink II, KAL Lembar, the Indonesian Navy, West Lombok Police, West Lombok Polairud, the Lembar Port Harbour Master, yachts, SGi Air Bali, local residents, and other relevant parties.