The story of KM Barcelona caught fire in North Minahasa, 3 passengers died, baby taken with a cooler box

The Shiro Copr Motorboat (KM) Barcelona 5, route Manado - Talaud, North Sulawesi, caught fire, Sunday (20/7/2025) around 12:00 WITA.

Suddenly, the blue sea around Talise Island, West Likupang District, North Minahasa, North Sulawesi, turned into an ocean of panic for the passengers on board the ship.

Three people died in this incident. They are Asna Lapae (50), female,

Zakaria Tindiuling, male and Juliana Humulung (40).

Meanwhile, hundreds of other passengers survived and were evacuated.

Baby is placed in a cooler box

There is a touching story behind the rescue of the victims from the fire incident on KM Barcelona.

One of the rescues of a baby.

As told by Serly Horman, one of the survivors.

At that time, Serly witnessed how the struggle to save her cousin's infant child.

The baby was placed into a cooler box.

Cooler box is a box-shaped container specifically designed to keep the temperature of food, drinks, or certain items cool and fresh during transportation or storage without electricity.

In addition to food, cooler boxes also serve to keep medical equipment such as vaccines or insulin that require low temperatures.

After the baby was placed in the cooler box, it was immediately taken floating in the sea.

This was done by the family out of panic since there were no life jackets.

"They made a quick decision. In order for the baby to be safe, they immediately took it using a cooler box. Thanks to God, he was safe until we were all evacuated," he said.

Serly said that the initial evacuation was carried out by local fishermen who happened to be around the fire location.

Daringly Jumping onto the Ship's Deck

Meanwhile, Serly was also fighting to save her child and parents from the fire.

Serly said that during the fire incident, she was with her child and her sick parents in the room.

Without any announcement from the ship's side, suddenly Serly saw everyone running.

She then asked the other passengers what was happening.

After being informed that the ship they were on was on fire, Serly became panicked.

She remembered her child and parents.

"Suddenly, everyone ran away. I asked what happened, and they said the ship was on fire. I immediately panicked, my parents hadn't taken their medicine yet. If they had, maybe they would have been asleep and wouldn't have had time to escape," said Serly, as quoted from TribunManado.com.

"I can only panic and pray, I said Lord, please help me, give me common sense," he said.

Without thinking twice, Serly recklessly jumped to the top of the ship's deck and helped her parents climb up.

Although without a life jacket, Serly, her child, and her parents swam in the sea to save themselves.

"Three of us, me, my child, and my parents, swam without life jackets. There was no way out then, everything was already filled with smoke," he told Tribun Manado at Sirei Port.

Serly said, they swam while raising their hands to ask for help until they were finally found.

"First, we were helped by fishermen. Women and the sick were prioritized. We were separated for a while, but finally met again at the harbor," he said.

However, not all of his family members survived.

Serly held back her tears while revealing that one of her relatives, Asna Lapae (50), died as a result of this incident.

Suspected Passenger Cabin Fire

The burning of KM Barcelona 5 is suspected to have been caused by a fire originating from one of the passenger cabins.

When the fire occurred, a number of passengers were having lunch.

KM Barcelona 5 departed from Melonguane Port, Talaud Regency, heading to Manado Port, early Sunday (20/7/2025).

The ship temporarily stopped at Lirung Port to load more passengers.

Then continue the journey to Manado at around 02.00 WITA.

When on fire, the ship was in the waters between Talise Island and Gangga Island, North Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi, approximately 60 km from Manado Port.

Number of Passengers Differing

The number of passengers on KM Barcelona 5 is still uncertain.

Initially reported to be carrying about 280 passengers.

However, based on the number of evacuees, it is estimated that the number of passengers exceeds 400 people.

At Serei Port, Bakamla RI recorded 293 passengers being evacuated.

At Munte Port, 87 victims were safely evacuated.

Meanwhile, at Manado Port, about 150 people were directly evacuated by the crew of KM Barcelona.

Evacuation was carried out by joint elements. It consists of Bakamla, Basarnas, Kodim Bitung, Koramil Likupang, Polsek Likupang, Brimob Polda Sulut as well as residents of Talise Island and Gangga Island who volunteered. (TribunManado.co.id/Alpen Martinus/Rizali Posumah)