At least seven people - five women and two men - have died, another 120 rescued and seven missing due to a fire that broke out today on a ferry with 134 people on board, 124 passengers and 10 crew members, just a few kilometers before the vessel reached its destination in the Philippines, forcing many people overboard.
The fire broke out on the Mercraft 2 as it was sailing from Polillo Island to the port city of Real, in the province of Kesson, on Luzon Island, some 60 km (60 miles) from the port of Réal. east of the capital, according to a coast guard spokesman and eyewitnesses.
The flames were engulfing the double-decker ship
According to coast guard spokesman Armando Balilo, seven people were confirmed dead, 120 rescued, while searches continue to locate the seven missing persons.
The ferry left Polillo at 05:00 (local time; midnight Greek time) and issued a distress signal an hour and a half later.
Thick black smoke billowed from the double-decker vessel as flames engulfed the entire vessel, images released by the coastguard show.
Many passengers, on lifeboats or wearing life jackets, fell into the sea. Dozens were rescued by passing ships.
"We were able to rescue 40 people. We recorded two deaths," Captain Brunette Ashagra, whose boat was only 500 metres from the Mercraft 2 when the fire broke out, told a local radio station. They had just passed us, but we were still close," Asagra explained.
Unknown cause of the fire
At least 21 people were taken to hospitals, informed Ricky Poblete, a disaster response official in the city of Real.
"The boat is still far from the port, about seven kilometers," he said."
The cause of the fire is not yet known. But in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, navigation safety regulations are often not observed, many vessels are dilapidated and usually overloaded.
In 1987, the Philippines suffered the world's worst peacetime maritime accident when the overloaded ferry Dona Paz collided with a tanker carrying oil off Mindoro, south of Manila. The toll: some 5,000 dead.
Source: APE
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