Five dead, dozens missing in Philippines ferry fire

Coastguard says the ferry had 134 listed passengers and crew when it sank off the coast of Palawan.

This screengrab of a handout video from the Philippine coastguard taken on Wednesday shows the ferry that caught fire off Palawan [AFP]

At least five people have been killed, and 87 remain missing after a fire broke out on board a ferry in the Philippines, near a popular tourist destination in the province of Palawan, according to the country’s coastguard.

It said that the fire erupted on Wednesday evening on board the M/V June Aster about 2.2km (1.3 miles) offshore, adding that five casualties had been brought ashore.

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Video shared by the coastguard on Facebook showed much of the vessel engulfed in flames.

Coastguard Captain Noemi Cayabyab told a local radio station on Thursday that 42 people had been rescued so far, according to the AFP news agency.

“Based on the data we have right now on rescued and the casualties, we still have 87 people who are unaccounted for,” she said, adding that the ship’s manifest had listed 134 passengers and crew.

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

Of those rescued, she added, 38 were passengers, and four were crew.

“However, we have not yet been able to obtain information from the rescued individuals because we have not been able to speak with them,” she said, adding that attempts to put out the blaze were ongoing.

The Reuters news agency reported that 43 people were rescued as of Wednesday night.

The ferry had sailed from Manila and was near Coron in Palawan province when the fire started.

The reports made no mention of the possible cause of the blaze.

Sea accidents are considered common in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands regularly battered by monsoon rains and typhoons that can make travel conditions treacherous.

Poor vessel maintenance and overcrowding, and sometimes spotty enforcement of safety regulations, have also been blamed for past accidents .

A ferry carrying more than 350 people sank off the coast of Baluk-baluk island in January , killing at least 18.

海岸警卫队称，这艘渡轮在巴拉望岛海岸附近沉没时，船上登记在册的乘客和船员共有 134 人。

这张截图来自菲律宾海岸警卫队周三发布的视频，显示了在巴拉望岛附近起火的渡轮。[法新社]

据菲律宾海岸警卫队称，一艘渡轮在巴拉望省一处热门旅游景点附近发生火灾，造成至少5人死亡，87人失踪。

报道称，周三晚上，M/V June Aster号货轮在离岸约2.2公里（1.3英里）处起火，并补充说，已有5名伤者被送上岸。

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海岸警卫队在 Facebook 上分享的视频显示，这艘船的大部分都被火焰吞噬。

据法新社报道，海岸警卫队队长诺埃米·卡亚比亚布周四告诉当地一家电台，目前已有 42 人获救。

“根据我们目前掌握的获救人员和伤亡人员数据，仍有 87 人下落不明，”她说道，并补充说，该船的乘客和船员名单上列出了 134 人。

“需要说明的是，这是实时数据，可能会发生变化，因为我们的搜救行动仍在进行中，”卡亚比亚布说。

她补充说，获救者中有 38 名乘客和 4 名船员。

“然而，由于我们无法与获救人员交谈，因此我们尚未能从他们那里获得任何信息，”她说道，并补充说，灭火工作仍在进行中。

路透社新闻社报道，截至周三晚间，已有 43 人获救。

渡轮从马尼拉出发，在巴拉望省科隆附近起火。

报道中没有提及火灾的可能原因。

在菲律宾，海上事故很常见。菲律宾是一个拥有 7000 多个岛屿的群岛国家，经常遭受季风雨和台风的袭击，这使得旅行条件变得危险。

船舶维护不善、过度拥挤，以及安全法规执行不力，也被认为是过去事故的原因。

1月份，一艘载有350多人的渡轮在巴鲁克巴鲁克岛附近海域沉没，造成至少18人死亡。