Indonesian ferry fire kills at least 5, dozens missing as 225 rescued

On a Sunday morning in the Java Sea, a passenger ferry named Mutiara Sentosa 2 caught fire while carrying 271 people between Surabaya and Makassar — two cities separated by forty hours of open water and connected, as so much of Indonesia is, by vessels that are less a convenience than a lifeline. Five people died, 225 were pulled to safety by passing ships, and 41 remained unaccounted for as night approached. The disaster is singular in its grief, yet familiar in its shape: a vast archipelago, a reliance on maritime passage, and safety systems that have long struggled to match the scale of the