SINGAPORE: Dramatic footage of passengers jumping into the sea after the vessel they on caught fire made the rounds on social media on Sunday (Jul 20), with Indonesian news outlet Detik reporting that the incident happened off an island in the country’s North Sulawesi province.

"According to initial information, the fire is located (off of) Talise island," Jerry Harmonsina, secretary of the North Sulawesi Regional Disaster Management Agency, told Detik.

There has been no confirmation of the number of casualties, but Jerry told Detik that the fire broke out on the vessel on Sunday afternoon.

Local media reported that the vessel – KM Barcelona 5 – was ferrying 280 passengers and was scheduled to dock at Manado Port.

Subscribe to CNA’s Morning Brief An automated curation of our top stories to start your day. This service is not intended for persons residing in the E.U. By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive news updates and promotional material from Mediacorp and Mediacorp’s partners. Loading