Indonesian ferry fire kills five, leaves 41 missing as rescue efforts continue

On a Sunday morning off the coast of Java, a passenger ferry named the Mutiara Sentosa 2 caught fire while carrying 271 souls between Surabaya and Makassar, two cities separated by sea in the world's largest archipelago nation. At least five people perished and 41 remain unaccounted for, with rough waters slowing the search even as nearby vessels pulled 225 survivors from the flames and the deep. The disaster is not merely an isolated tragedy but a recurring consequence of Indonesia's dependence on aging ferries to bind together more than 17,000 islands — a dependence that outpaces the safety