Most were rescued, but 23 were killed and 50 suffered injuries, according to the official disaster agency.
Survivors of the Zahro Express fire -- the boat's captain has been held by Indonesian police for suspected negligence
Indonesian police said Monday
they had detained the captain of a tourist boat that burst into flames
en route to a holiday island, leaving 23 people dead, amid reports he
was the first to jump ship.
The Zahro Express
became engulfed by fire on Sunday shortly after it set off from Jakarta
carrying about 250 local holidaymakers to celebrate the New Year on the
nearby resort island of Tidung.
Panicked
passengers fought over life jackets and jumped into the sea as the huge
blaze tore through the ferry after starting in the engine room, with
authorities blaming an electrical fault for the accident.
Most were rescued, but 23 were killed and 50 suffered injuries, according to the official disaster agency.
Police said the captain, named in local reports as Muhammad Nali,
had been detained Sunday and was being questioned over suspected
negligence in relation to the fire which reduced the boat to a blackened
wreck.
"We are still investigating the case and questioning the captain," Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono told AFP, without giving further details.
Several
local media outlets reported the captain jumped ship first, abandoning
the tourists as the fire erupted, and was found floating in the sea with
other passengers before being rescued.
Tonny
Budiono, a senior official at the transport ministry, vowed that the
captain would be punished if the allegations turned out to be true.
Search
teams continued to scour the waters Monday as a precaution but
officials said they believed that all passengers were now accounted for.
It
was just the latest fatal maritime accident in the vast Indonesian
archipelago, which relies heavily on boats to ferry people round its
17,000 islands but has a patchy safety record.
In September a tourist boat on the resort island of Bali exploded, killing two foreigners and injuring about 20 others.
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