Austrian woman among two people killed by Indonesia ferry blast

DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) - An explosion on a ferry carrying 35 tourists between the Indonesian resort islands of Bali and Lombok killed two people on Thursday and injured several, police said.

The Austrian Foreign Ministry said an Austrian woman was among the dead. Earlier reports had said the two casualties were a Dutch citizen and an Indonesian.

"Up to now, two people have died, but I don't know the details of their identities," said district police chief Sugeng, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.

Several injured tourists were being treated in hospital.

Police denied reports of a bomb attack, saying instead that they suspected a gas cylinder explosion.

"We confirm there was no bomb on board," Sugeng said. "The explosion happened because of ... a gas cylinder close to the engine."

Bali and neighboring Lombok are two of Indonesia's most popular holiday destinations.

(Reporting by Fergus Jensen and Reuters stringer in Denpasar; Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla in Vienna; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Nick Macfie and Robin Pomeroy)

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