Josenit Mayo, 40, stood near the pier at Coron waiting for the bodies to come in. Her daughter had been on the ferry, coming home from Manila for a family visit. “She told me ‘Mom, I want to go home as I’m missing my siblings,’” Mayo told AFP. “She insisted she was lonely.”
The death toll from the fire aboard the M/V June Aster reached 76 on Saturday, after the coast guard confirmed that 41 more bodies had been found in the burnt-out vessel. Five bodies were recovered right after the fire, which tore through the ship on Wednesday. Around a dozen people are still unaccounted for. Forty-three survived: 30 passengers, two of them Chilean nationals, and 13 crew.
The ferry was nearing the end of its run from Manila to Coron, in Palawan, when it caught fire. It now sits grounded about 7.5 kilometres off the coast. Early reports spoke of five dead and more than 80 missing. Extreme heat and thick smoke kept responders out of much of the ship until firefighters finally got deeper inside.
Seconds, survivors say
Coast guard spokesperson Commodore Noemie Cayabyab said the fire began in the cargo hold. Survivors told of a loud explosion, then smoke, then flames. “It spread very quickly,” she said. “Everything happened in seconds.” Those who got off had no time to put on life jackets, and some spent a long while in the sea.
The cause has not been formally established. Investigators are looking at whether the fire started around the cargo area. The ship carried vehicles and other cargo as well as passengers, but authorities have not pinned the blaze on any one item. They are also going to examine the evacuation, what the crew did and whether passengers got enough warning. Questions have come up about where the captain is.
Waiting in Coron
The first 30 bodies came in by sea on Saturday, and forensic specialists started identifying them. AFP saw disaster agency workers carry coffins to a cemetery in the resort town. One-metre-deep graves have been dug for temporary burial until DNA testing is done, said Kristine Ablana, a tourism official acting as spokesperson.
Relatives will be brought in to look at personal items. “Once someone is able to verify… that this photo or these belongings are indeed those of their relative, they will be asked to provide a DNA sample,” Ablana said.
Myra Cabilan flew to Coron to look for her brother, 40-year-old Rammel Gonzaga, who took the ferry from Manila on a business trip with his brother-in-law. “His wife had just given birth a month ago. He was so happy he was given a daughter,” she said, fighting back tears. “At dawn, I still believed he survived. But he’s still missing. I have lost hope.”
Hundreds of people have left comments on a local mayor’s Facebook page, asking after relatives, friends and even a dog.
Ferry disasters are a grim pattern in a country of 116 million people and more than 7,000 islands, where many depend on cheap and poorly regulated boats. In January, a triple-decker ferry carrying more than 340 people sank off the southern Philippines and killed at least 52.
Sources
- MV Lady Mary Joy 3 – Wikipedia
- 41 More Bodies Found Inside Burned Philippines Ferry as Death Toll Reaches 76
- TRT World – Philippine ferry fire death toll jumps to 76
