Death toll from burned Philippine ferry rises to 76
Forty-three passengers survived Wednesday night's blaze, which broke out while 132 people were aboard the vessel
Rescuers recovered more bodies from a passenger ferry that was engulfed by fire in the Philippines, raising the death toll to 76, while 13 people remained missing on Saturday.
Forty-three passengers survived Wednesday night's blaze, which broke out while 132 people were aboard the vessel.
The ferry had departed Manila and was about 39 kilometres (24 miles) from its destination in Coron, southwestern Palawan province, when the fire broke out.
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The cause of the fire has yet to be determined. However, a coast guard spokesperson said a survivor reported that it may have started in the cargo hold.
The survivor said they heard a blast before smoke and flames rapidly spread through the vessel, helped by strong winds, officials said.
Tents were erected at the Port of Borac in Coron as body bags were brought ashore from a ship that had transported the recovered remains from the burned ferry.
Commodore Noemie Cayabyab, a coast guard spokesperson, said authorities were searching for the vessel's captain, who reportedly survived the incident but was not included on the list of survivors.
She said a multiagency maritime safety and criminal investigation would examine all aspects of the incident, including any possible liability of the captain and crew.
According to Cayabyab, survivors said the fire spread so quickly that they had no time to put on life jackets.
She also said a tarpaulin covering the ship's open areas to protect passengers from rain "may be a possible contributing factor," although investigators could not yet determine whether anyone was trapped inside.
Investigators will also determine whether proper emergency procedures were followed, including whether the captain sounded an alarm or issued warnings and instructions, and whether crew members helped passengers evacuate, she said.
Ferries are a common means of transportation across the Philippine archipelago, where maritime accidents frequently occur due to storms, poorly maintained vessels, overcrowding and inconsistent enforcement of safety regulations, particularly 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 what remains the world's deadliest peacetime maritime disaster.
