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 JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - The Levina 1 was carrying 300 passengers when a pre-dawn blaze broke out in a truck on the car deck hours after the ferry left the capital, Jakarta, for the northwestern island of Bangka, port official Sato Bisri said. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Remarkably, 275 people were rescued from the Java Sea and the 2,000-ton vessel's charred hull by fishing boats, warships and helicopters, averting a second major maritime disaster in Indonesia the last several months. In late December, a ferry sank in a storm in the Java Sea, killing more than 400 people.
At least 17 people were still missing following Thursday's fire, Navy spokesman Hendra Pakan. The search for survivors continued after darkness fell.
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