At least five people have been killed, and 87 remain missing after a fire broke out on board a ferry in the Philippines, near a popular tourist destination in the province of Palawan, according to the country’s coastguard. It said that the fire erupted on Wednesday evening on board the M/V June Aster about 2.2km (1.3 miles) offshore, adding that five casualties had been brought ashore. Video shared by the coastguard on Facebook showed much of the vessel engulfed in flames. Coastguard Captain Noemi Cayabyab told a local radio station on Thursday that 42 people had been rescued so far, according to the AFP news agency. “Based on the data we have right now on rescued and the casualties, we still have 87 people who are unaccounted for,” she said, adding that the ship’s manifest had listed 134 passengers and crew. “Just to make it clear, this is live data and may change, as our search and rescue operations are ongoing,” Cayabyab said.
Of those rescued, she added, 38 were passengers, and four were crew. “However, we have not yet been able to obtain information from the rescued individuals because we have not been able to speak with them,” she said, adding that attempts to put out the blaze were ongoing. The Reuters news agency reported that 43 people were rescued as of Wednesday night. The ferry had sailed from Manila and was near Coron in Palawan province when the fire started. The reports made no mention of the possible cause of the blaze.
Sea accidents are considered common in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands regularly battered by monsoon rains and typhoons that can make travel conditions treacherous. Poor vessel maintenance and overcrowding, and sometimes spotty enforcement of safety regulations, have also been blamed for past accidents. A ferry carrying more than 350 people sank off the coast of Baluk-baluk island in January, killing at least 18.
