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The Indonesian archipelago has a poor sea safety record

A STAMPEDE on a docked ferry in Indonesia's East Java has left at least eight dead and dozens injured, an official says. 

More than 500 passengers panicked when a truck overheated and caught fire around dawn this morning aboard the KM Kirana IX, docked at the Tanjung Perak port in the provincial capital of Surabaya.

"The passengers heard there was a fire and they all panicked and ran off the boat," Disaster Management Agency head Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

"Eight people have died and others have been taken to hospital."

The vessel's owner, Bambang Haryo, told Metro TV that part of the deck was burned but that the fire did not cause any serious damage.

"We quickly extinguished the fire, following standard safety procedures, by activating the sprinklers as soon as we detected it," he said.

On Monday, another ferry serving the same route to the city of Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan province on Indonesian Borneo collided with a tugboat and caught fire, killing three and injuring more than 100.

The Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands has a poor sea safety record, and fatal accidents are common.

Last week, 13 people were killed when a boat sank off East Java, and 25 were killed when a boat sank off the resort island of Bali.
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