Tourists were on board a ferry boat which exploded, killing three people and injuring 13 in Bali.
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A German national was reportedly killed, while at least 20 others are said to be injured.
“Above it was a battery, maybe there was a short circuit that affected the fuel tank”, Sudarso speculated.
Bali and neighboring Lombok are two of Indonesia’s most popular holiday destinations.
The fast boat, the Gili Cat 2, had just left Padangbai harbour for the Gili Islands near Lombok when a fuel tank exploded at about 9.30am.
There were also tourists from the UK France, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Spain on board, according to a passenger manifest.
On Friday Bali police were examining the scene of the accident and questioning the boat crew and some of the foreign passengers.
One of the victims died after suffering severe head injuries. A few reports said an Indonesian woman was killed along with a German tourist, while other accounts claimed the second victim was from the Netherlands.
The boat was ferrying them from Bali to neighbouring Lombok when the blast occurred on board. “I have never said she was from Germany”, he told DPA.
Karangasem police chief Sugeng Sudarso said one passenger had lost both feet in the blast.
“Witnesses saw smoke emanating from an area near the boat’s engine”.
The Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is heavily dependent on ferry services but the industry has a poor safety record and fatal accidents are common. We suspect there was a leak from a fuel tank under the deck.
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However, reports from Bali Berkarya alternatively say that one of the injured boat passengers died on the way to the hospital and 14 are suffering from burn wounds.
