Passengers on board a ferry to the Philippines’ Palawan province were jolted into chaos on Wednesday night, when a fire broke out on the vessel. Frantic cries pierced the night sky as hot air filled the boat, recalls Roland Lerma, one of more than 100 passengers aboard the MV June Aster. Five people have died and 86 people are missing after the fire, which, in a country where shipping accidents are not uncommon, could become one of the deadliest maritime disasters the Philippines has seen. Families are anxiously awaiting news about their loved ones on board, while survivors like Lerma are coming to terms with their harrowing escape.
Speaking to the BBC from a hospital in Coron, Lerma recalled that as the fire spread and he scrambled to get off the burning boat, he slipped and fell. “When I was on the floor, people were trampling me,” said the 30-year-old. He started crawling until he could find his footing again, before leaping off the vessel into the sea. He said he saw children who had also jumped in the water, though he could not make out their faces in the dark.
“When I hit the water, I ditched all my possessions – the clothes I was wearing, phones, bags – so that I could float,” he said. Lerma said he floated on his back for about two hours before rescuers arrived and pulled him and other survivors out of the water. “It was cold. If the rescue had been delayed, I would have definitely died last night,” he said.
Lerma, who works in construction, is from Leyte province. He had travelled to the capital Manila with five of his neighbours, where they boarded the ferry to bring them to work at Coron, a popular tourist spot in Palawan province. According to the Philippine Coast Guard, the MV June Aster departed Manila’s Port of Baseco on Tuesday night at 20:13 local time (12:13 GMT) and was scheduled to arrive at the Coron port at 18:00 on Wednesday. But the ferry caught fire just 1.2 nautical miles (2.2km) off the coast of Coron’s Marcilla village.
The fire was first reported at 18:45 local time on Wednesday night by a staff member of Atienza Shipping Lines, which owns the boat, the Coast Guard said. The company said in a statement on Thursday that it was co-operating fully with authorities and expressed “profound sadness” about the fire. Authorities say a survivor had told them the flames had started in the cargo hold after a loud explosion. The ship had been carrying several motorcycles, an electric car, a forklift, a pick-up van and other goods, the Philippine Coast Guard said.
As the journey was expected to take more than 20 hours, passengers had slept on bunk beds onboard overnight. Lerma said that two Chileans – a couple who looked like they were in their late 20s or early 30s – had slept in the beds next to his. Authorities have since confirmed that two Chilean nationals were among the 43 people rescued. Lerma and two of his neighbours are now in a hospital in Coron.
Another person in their group has been taken to a bigger hospital in the neighbouring island of Culion, while two others remain missing, Lerma says. “I have a couple of bruises and my chest is still hurting,” Lerma said. “Last night, I had a hard time breathing. But I am okay now.” Search and rescue operations are ongoing, though authorities say the fire on the MV June Aster has still not been put out and there was visible smoke from the ferry.
A spokesperson for the Philippine Coast Guard said in a local television interview many of the survivors “are still in shock”. Meanwhile, families of the ferry’s missing passengers are enduring an agonising wait. Anelyn Magbanua told the BBC that her husband Marlon was on the ferry. He was returning to Coron after visiting Manila to see two of their children who are studying at the capital.
“He spent a couple of days there. He even sent me their pictures,” she said. She last heard from him while the ferry was passing through a village about two hours from the port in Coron. Magbanua and her two-year-old son had gone to bed early on Wednesday night expecting Marlon to be home soon.
But she was woken up later that night by a relative who informed her that her husband’s ferry had caught fire. On Thursday she rushed to the hospital when she heard there was a chance her husband might be one of the rescued survivors there. But officials have since told her that Marlon remains unaccounted for. “My two-year-old son and I are outside the hospital as we speak.
We have nothing but ourselves,” she told the BBC over the phone. “I can’t describe what I am feeling right now. I have been crying and praying since last night.”
