MANADO, Indonesia (AP) — Rescuers in Indonesia responding to a ferry that caught fire and killed at least three people said Monday they had rescued 575 people — far more than originally reported — and that two people were still missing.
The KM Barcelona V-A caught fire Sunday in the sea off North Sulawesi province, and initial reports said five people were dead and about 280 rescued, based on the ship's manifest. However, by Monday afternoon officials updated the death toll to three, with two missing, and said many more people were aboard than were listed, and that 575 of them were rescued.
It is common in Indonesia for the number of passengers on a boat or ferry to differ from the manifest. Such discrepancies can reflect overcrowding and complicate search and rescue efforts, said navy First Adm. Franky Pasuna Sihombing.
The KM Barcelona V-A was making its regular half-day journey between the ports of Melonguane and Manado when it caught fire about midday Sunday, Sihombing said.
A coast guard ship, six rescue vessels and several inflatable boats were deployed in the rescue operation, Sihombing said. The crews pulled many people from the sea and took them to nearby islands, and local fishermen also saved some survivors wearing life jackets as they were drifting in the choppy waters.
Three bodies were recovered, including a pregnant woman, and rescuers were searching for two passengers reportedly still missing, the Manado city Search and Rescue Agency said in a statement.
The ferry’s manifest initially registered only 280 passengers and 15 crew members, but by Monday afternoon the search and rescue agency confirmed that 575 survivors had been rescued, including a 2-month-old baby whose lungs were filled with seawater. The baby is now in a stable condition at a hospital.
The ferry had a capacity of 600 people.
Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands where ferries are a common method of travel. Disasters occur regularly, with weak safety enforcement often blamed.
A speedboat carrying 18 people capsized during a storm July 14, and all its occupants were found rescued by the next day. Earlier in the month, a ferry sank near Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, leaving at least 19 dead and 16 others missing. A two-week search operation involved more than 600 rescuers, three navy ships, 15 boats, a helicopter and divers.
Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
In this photo made from video released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), rescue ship approach passenger ship KM Barcelona after it caught fire in the waters off Talise Island in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sunday, July 20, 2025. (BASARNAS via AP)
In this photo made from video released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), smoke billows from passenger ship KM Barcelona after it caught fire in the waters off Talise Island in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sunday, July 20, 2025. (BASARNAS via AP)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.
Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.
“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.
"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.
Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.
Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.
Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.
At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.
Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.
Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.
After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.
“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”
Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.
Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.
His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.
“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”
Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.
FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
