This handout picture taken by the Philippine Coast Guard on March 29, 2023 shows the Philippine Coast Guard spraying water on a fire aboard the Lady Mary Joy 3 during a search and rescue operation in waters off Baluk-Baluk Island in Basilan province. PHOTO AFP MANILA At least 28 people have died, including a 6 month old baby after a fire broke out on an inter-island passenger ferry in the southern Philippines, the coast guard said on Thursday.
Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the fire that started close to 11 pm 1500 GMT on Wednesday off the island of Basilan, when many of the passengers were asleep in air-conditioned cabins on the ferry's lower deck.
There were 10 we recovered, but they died of drowning. We found another 18 on board the vessel, at the cabin. They were completely burnt, said Commodore Rejard Marfe, coast guard chief in the southern Mindanao region.
There were conflicting figures on the number of passengers on the ferry, which was not overloaded, but the coast guard said 230 people including 35 crew were rescued.
Marfe said most were sleeping at the time of the fire, and said there was chaos in the firefighters who brought the blaze under control early on Thursday.
Photos shared by the Coast Guard showed that the MV Lady Mary Joy 3 ship was damaged by fire.
I thought I was dreaming, but when I opened my eyes, it was dark and we were surrounded by smoke, Mina Nani, 46, told DZRH.
She said she was saved by jumping off the vessel and sharing a floater with another passenger before they were rescued.
The Philippines, a country of more than 7,600 islands, has a poor record for maritime safety, with vessels often overcrowded and many older ships still in use.
In May, at least seven people were killed in a high-speed Philippine ferry carrying 134 people.
In 1987, around 5,000 people were killed in the world's worst peacetime shipping disaster when an overloaded passenger ferry Dona Paz collided with an oil tanker off Mindoro Island south of the capital, Manila.