Rescuers recovered 13 bodies and rescued 263 people as a fire broke out on a passenger ship in the waters off East Nusa Tenggara province in central Indonesia on Monday, rescuers said.

Among the survivors, some suffered from injuries, said Saidar Rahmanjaya, head of the operation unit of the provincial search and rescue office.

"The total death toll stood at 13 now," he told Xinhua over phone.

He said that the search and rescue operation was halted now and it would resume on Tuesday.

Rahmanjaya, who is also the field coordinator of the search and rescue operation, said that the rescue operation involved people from his office, another passenger ship and sailors from the area.

He declined to give the number of missing people in the accident, stressing that he would focus on the rescue operation.