Explosions kill five, injure 15 others on tanker off Bali, Indonesia

Five people were killed while another 15 individuals suffered injuries as a result of two separate explosions on a commercial vessel off the eastern coast of Indonesia's Bali Island in the early morning (local time) of Wednesday, August 7.

The locally-registered product tanker Elisabet Satu was underway some 10 kilometres off the town of Manggis at the time of the first explosion in the ship's mess at around 01:18 on Wednesday. Shortly afterwards, a second explosion ignited a fire in the engine room, resulting in power loss.

Five crewmembers were in the engine room at the time of the second explosion. Tragically, they were unable to escape after the blaze ignited and were burned to death.

The tanker's 16 other crewmembers have been rescued, though all but one of the survivors suffered injuries. Three sailors are in critical condition due to severe burns and respiratory problems and are being treated at Bali's Professor I.G.N.G. Ngoerah Hospital.

Due to the extreme heat caused by the fire, rescuers were not able to recover the bodies of the five deceased victims from the engine room until 12:30.

Local police are now investigating the incident.