Trampled on the ferry to Indonesia killed eight people

At least eight people dead and dozens injured in Indonesia, when panicked passengers stampede to each other on a ferry this morning.

According to AFP , the incident happened on board the ferry named Kirana KM IX, while it was parked at the port of Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, the largest city of East Java province. Over 500 passengers were panicking because of a truck overheat and catch fire. The ferry can accommodate 850 people and prepared to go to South Kalimantan province on Borneo island.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, head of disaster management agencies in Indonesia said: "Passengers heard a fire and they all run out of ships panic. 8 people died and several others have been taken to hospital. "In addition, search and rescue team of East Java province is looking for a passenger jumped overboard in the panic.

A crowded ferry in the city of Surabaya, East Java province.

Subhan witness told TV One that he had seen three passengers jumped into the water. Upon hearing the news of fire, Subhan immediately throw furniture into the sea in the hope of taking them touch, if the ferry sank and ran to find his wife and children. "Everyone was screaming and running out the gate.But the gate is too narrow, so people pushing each other to find the way out, "Subhan said.

The fire was burning in front of the truck and broke the windshield. However, the shipowner Haryo Bambang said, the fire did not cause any serious damage, but only a deck fire.

"We quickly extinguished the fire safety standards process, by opening the aerosol immediately after discovering the fire," he said, adding that Haryo, a sailor has tried to calm passengers but at that time was excessive.

Ferry transportation is essential throughout the Indonesian archipelago with more than 17,000 islands.However, many old ships and poor maintenance, making this country occurred many sea accidents.

Today is the stampede of marine accidents kill 3 of 8 days back in Indonesia. Earlier, 13 people died on Saturday last week, when a ship sank off the coast of East Java. Tuesday last week, 25 people died when a boat sank off the tourist island of Bali. In January last year, more than 300 people drowned because of an overloaded ferry sinks off Sulawesi island