Philippine ferry fire kills five as scores remain unaccounted for off Palawan

At least five people have died and dozens remain missing after a ferry caught fire off the Philippine island of Palawan, the coast guard said. The blaze erupted Wednesday evening on the M/V June Aster about 2.2 kilometres offshore, the Philippine Coast Guard told reporters.

Rescue numbers and missing passengers

According to IOL, the coast guard said five casualties had been brought ashore and that 86 people remained missing. Coast Guard Captain Noemi Cayabyab gave updated figures in a radio interview, saying the ship’s manifest listed 134 passengers and crew.

Cayabyab told the radio station that, at the time of the interview, 42 people had been rescued 38 passengers and four crew. Hours later the coast guard reported that another person had been rescued, though the individual’s identity had yet to be confirmed.

Ongoing search and rescue

Authorities continued search and rescue efforts and worked to extinguish the blaze. Captain Cayabyab cautioned that figures were provisional, saying,

“Just to make it clear, this is live data and may change as our search and rescue operations are ongoing.”

She also said attempts to obtain information from those rescued had not yet been successful, adding that efforts to put out the fire were ongoing.

Local reaction and context

Video shared by the coast guard on Facebook showed the ferry completely engulfed in flames. Hundreds of people left comments on the Coron town mayor’s Facebook page searching for relatives, friends and even a dog, IOL reported.

Voyage details

Tracking data from MarineTraffic showed the June Aster had departed from Manila, according to IOL.

Related maritime incidents

IOL noted past maritime tragedies in the Philippines, including a January incident in which a triple-decker ferry sank with more than 340 people onboard, killing at least 52. The report also referenced previous fires and sinkings along similar routes.

All figures and quotes in this article are reported by IOL.