FIVE people were confirmed dead while 86 others remained missing on Thursday after fire erupted onboard the passenger ferry MV June Aster off Coron, Palawan, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.
PCG spokesman Commo. Noemie Cayabyab said 43 survivors and five fatalities had so far been accounted for from the vessel’s initial manifest listing 134 people — 117 passengers and 17 crew members.
She said the number of those still unaccounted for remained preliminary as authorities continued to reconcile the manifest with records from the local government, the shipping company and relatives of passengers.
The MV June Aster, which was traveling from Manila to Coron, was reported on fire at about 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
When PCG personnel arrived in the area, the fire had already spread, Cayabyab said.
Video shared by the Coast Guard on Facebook showed the vessel completely engulfed in flames.
Hundreds of people, desperate for news about the incident, have left comments on the Coron town mayor’s Facebook page, searching for relatives, friends and even a dog.
Based on the initial account of one survivor, the fire appeared to have started in the cargo hold before rapidly spreading within minutes.
Cayabyab said the account was still being investigated and that authorities would conduct a comprehensive probe into the cause of the fire and possible contributing factors.
Investigators will examine the actions of the crew and captain, as well as cargo handling and other possible lapses involving the vessel owner, she said.
The MV June Aster is a passenger roll-on, roll-off cargo vessel capable of carrying both passengers and cargo.
Cayabyab said the vessel had a passenger capacity of 306 and, based on the initial manifest of 117 passengers, did not appear to have been overloaded.
She said, however, that the assessment was not yet conclusive.
Search-and-rescue operations continued on Thursday with the participation of various government agencies, private vessel owners and resort operators that provided boats to assist the PCG.
The PCG also expanded its search toward nearby shorelines after the vessel’s location shifted from about 4 nautical miles from Barangay Turda to about 7.6 nautical miles because of wind and currents.
Coastal villages were alerted in case survivors had drifted toward shore, while vessels transiting the area were asked through radio broadcasts to watch for possible survivors and immediately report any sightings to the PCG.
Cayabyab said weather conditions had improved compared with Wednesday night, allowing rescuers to continue the search.
However, thick smoke was still coming from the MV June Aster, preventing rescuers from immediately entering the vessel to check for possible survivors.
The PCG said survivors recovered from the sea were being turned over to the local government unit and the Coron Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office for identification and immediate assistance.
Some survivors remained hospitalized while others had already been discharged, Cayabyab said.
The shipping company, she added, had committed to providing accommodation, medicines and other expenses related to the survivors’ hospitalization.
Authorities were also still verifying whether foreign nationals were among those aboard the vessel.
Cayabyab said the PCG had established an incident command post to centralize rescue operations and the verification of information.
She said the agency was also coordinating closely with the shipping company and local authorities to ensure that the identities of survivors and those still missing were accurately established.
As of Thursday, the PCG had detected no oil spill or oil sheen in the area following the fire, Cayabyab said.
In January, a triple-decker ferry carrying more than 340 people sank off the southern Philippines, killing at least 52 people.
The MV Trisha Kerstin 3 sank along nearly the same route where 31 people died in 2023 after a fire broke out aboard the Lady Mary Joy 3 ferry.
