Asia-Pacific

Death Toll From Philippines Ferry Fire Rises to 35 With 54 Still Missing

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The Philippine Coast Guard says the remains of at least 30 people have been recovered from a ferry that caught fire on Wednesday. The MV June Aster left Manila on September 8, bound for Coron in Palawan province. It caught fire and ran aground the following day as it neared its destination. The death toll has since risen to 35, with 54 people still unaccounted for and 43 survivors. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Philippines Ferry Disaster

REPORTER:  
The Philippine Coast Guard says the remains of at least 30 people have been recovered from a ferry that caught fire on Wednesday.

The MV June Aster left Manila on the evening of September 8, bound for Coron in Palawan province. The ferry caught fire and ran aground the following day as it approached its destination.

The death toll has now risen to 35, with 54 people still missing and 43 survivors.

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

Rescue efforts were slowed on Thursday as intense heat and thick smoke made it difficult for crews to enter the vessel and search for passengers who may have been trapped inside.

On Friday, the death toll rose to 35 as more bodies were recovered.

Emergency personnel, some wearing hazmat suits, were seen standing aboard a Philippine Coast Guard vessel as it docked at Port of Borac in Coron, with the remains of those killed in the ferry fire in bags on board.

The ferry sailed from the capital, Manila, and was around 7.4 kilometers (4.5 miles) off the village of Turda near its destination of Coron in Palawan province when the fire was reported.

According to the manifest, 134 people were onboard, 117 of them passengers and 17 crew.

The 53-meter (174-foot) vessel had a capacity to carry 306 passengers and 27 crew.

Two passengers listed in the manifest reported to authorities that they failed to board, the coast guard said.

Two of the survivors were tourists from Chile, according to Rachel Conserman, a staffer of the ship’s owner Atienza Interisland Ferries Inc.

They were recovering from injuries in a hospital in Coron, she said, adding that no other foreigners were known to have been on the ship.

Coron is a popular tourist destination known for clear blue waters, limestone cliffs and rock formations.

Ferries are frequently used for transport in the Philippine archipelago.

Sea accidents are not uncommon due to storms, badly maintained vessels, overcrowding and spotty enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.

In 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the central Philippines, killing more than 4,300 people in the world’s deadliest peacetime maritime disaster.