MANILA – Rescue teams faced dangerous conditions Friday as they tried to reach a burned-out ferry drifting in Philippine waters, where thick smoke and severe fire damage complicated the search for 84 people still missing. At least five people were killed in the blaze.
Smoke continued to rise from the heavily damaged vessel, which was listing and appeared to have moved closer to shore overnight. Rescuers had attempted to board the ferry Thursday, but intense heat and poor visibility from the smoke forced them to pull back, and operations were suspended through the night.
Coast guard spokeswoman Commodore Noemie Cayabyab said authorities were reassessing the situation Friday, with the goal of getting teams onto the vessel as soon as conditions allowed.
The MV June Aster had departed from Manila and was about 4 nautical miles, or 7.4 kilometers, off the village of Turda, near its destination of Coron in Palawan province, when the fire was reported Wednesday evening. The Philippine coast guard and nearby vessels rescued 43 people, including passengers pulled from the dark waters as flames consumed the ferry.
“The fire quickly spread. That’s when I dropped to the ground and my back was burned,” survivor Arnulfo Nokki Villanueva said in a video aired by News5. “I wanted to get a life jacket but failed to get one because people were stepping on me. People were in panic.”
He said he was eventually able to jump out from a window.
The coast guard, other government agencies, private volunteers and fishermen searched the nearby waters, and coastal patrols checked if some people may have drifted to shore, but no new survivors or fatalities have been found.
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.
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Two passengers listed in the manifest reported to authorities that they failed to board, bringing the number of missing to 84, 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 are recovering from injuries in a hospital in Coron, she said, adding that there no other foreigners known to have been on the ship.
The shipping company in a statement said it is coordinating with the coast guard and maritime officials to locate missing passengers and cooperating fully with authorities to determine the cause of the fire. It said it was assisting all those on board and their families.
The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined.
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.
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