JAKARTA, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers recovered two bodies and evacuated 158 people after a passenger ship caught fire in the waters off East Nusa Tenggara province in central Indonesia on Monday, the head of the provincial search and rescue office said.
"Today we rescued 158 people safely and two others died," Putu Sudayana told Xinhua via phone. "The search and rescue operation is halted now and will resume tomorrow (Tuesday). We will look for several other persons."
However, Sudayana declined to give the exact number of the missing people and the number of the crew and passengers on the ship.
Huge waves hampered the evacuation of those aboard the ill-fated vessel despite favorable weather conditions, he said.
A fire broke out on the passenger ship off East Nusa Tenggara province on Monday and the evacuation of the passengers and crew of the ship was immediately carried out, according to him.
The ship, Shantika Lestari, caught fire when it was sailing in the waters off Kupang city, the capital of the province, according to Richard Pelt, a senior official of the provincial disaster management and mitigation agency.
The ship, which departed from a seaport in Kupang city, was heading to the Alor district of the province, he told Xinhua by phone.
A video footage showed a huge black smoke rising from the ship and passengers were wearing life jackets. ■