Bali Ferry Fire Kills One, More Than 200 Rescued off Lombok

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JAKARTA, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities rescued more than 200 people on Wednesday after a ferry travelling from the tourist island of Bali caught fire in waters off the island of Lombok, officials said, as the search continued for any other missing passengers. 

By Wednesday afternoon, one Indonesian had been confirmed dead, among the 212 people who had been evacuated to ports in Bali and Lombok, Hariyadi said. The majority of evacuees were Indonesian, with one Australian national.

The incident took place less than a month after another ferry, KM Mutiara Sentosa 2, caught fire off Madura island, killing five people. The vessel was also carrying more people than its manifest showed.  

The KM Putri Yasmin ferry had left Padangbai port in Bali for Lembar port, said Muhammad Hariyadi, head of the local rescue agency. It was unclear how the ferry caught fire, or whether overcrowding was a factor.    

"We have deployed some boats to carry out the evacuation and coordinate with other boats surrounding the location of the incident," Hariyadi said, adding that more than 200 personnel had been deployed to handle the operation.

The incident took place in the Lombok Strait at 4:39 a.m. on Wednesday (2039 GMT Tuesday), Hariyadi told Reuters.

Earlier in the day, an official at Padangbai port in Bali, Heri Wiyanto, told local broadcaster Kompas TV that only 114 passengers and 17 crew were registered in the ferry's manifest. 

Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands, relies heavily on ferries as a key mode of transportation, with sea routes more affordable and readily available than air travel.

However, safety standards are not always rigorously enforced, resulting in a relatively high rate of accidents.

(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by John Mair, David Stanway and David Holmes )