Indonesian ferry fire finally extinguished with rising death toll at 28

[News_Editor]

Indonesian ferry fire finally extinguished with rising death toll at 28

2011-02-02 09:11:47 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- Indonesian authorities are expected to begin full investigations into the ferry boat fire off the Sunda Strait that killed at least 28 after all of the fires were extinguished on Tuesday.

Five days after the incident, joint rescue and search teams composed of local police, navy, and fire department forces, were able to extinguish all the fires on the Laut Teduh II. During the rescue efforts, further charred bodies - most of them burnt to the bone - were found in several sections, bringing the death toll to 28.

However, as the ferry boat is expected to continue cooling down, more bodies could be discovered as further inspections are expected to be conducted Wednesday morning.

Until now, investigative teams from Indonesia's Forensic Central Laboratory have been unable to conduct investigations because the boat's condition remains very dangerous with high temperatures.

Meanwhile, officials have already detained three suspects in the case. The unnamed suspects include the the ship's captain, a bus driver, and another crew member of the ship. After interviewing witnesses, officials believe the fire could have been started after the bus driver threw a lit cigarette on the ship. The captain and crew member were detained on charges of negligence.

The fire broke out last Friday at around 3 a.m. local time when the ferry was about 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) off the coast of Merak in West Java.

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