Ferry catches fire off Dapitan; 4 dead

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Four persons died when a ferry caught fire in the waters off Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Norte at past midnight yesterday.

Dapitan City health officer Rolito Cataluña identified two of the fatalities as Danilo Gomez, 60, and Chloe Labisig, 1. 

Cataluña said they received reports that two bodies were found near the coast of Barangay Guimputlan.

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Capt. Armand Balilo said another fatality was identified as Ronaldo Heneral, 65.

Five other passengers were brought to the Rizal Hospital for treatment.

The PCG said 270 people were rescued by a Fast Cat vessel, cargo vessel M/V Danica Joy and LCT Leila Constantin. 

Local news reports quoted some passengers as saying they jumped into the waters in panic.

“We did not have any patrol ship in the area so we alerted nearby ships and boats to render assistance because it was an emergency,” Balilo said.

The crewmembers of the ferry were among those rescued. Seven of them remained on the vessel, which drifted toward Siquijor, to help put off the fire. 

The rescued passengers and crew were provided food, water and relief assistance.

Search and rescue operations were ongoing yesterday afternoon even though it was unclear whether there are people still missing.

Balilo said an investigation as to what caused the fire is ongoing. He said initial reports showed that the fire started at the engine room.

Discrepancy

He said the ship captain would be asked to explain the discrepancy between the number of passengers and those in the manifest. 

There are 36 crewmembers and 136 passengers, 28 of them children, in the manifest.

Aside from passengers, the ferry was also carrying 13 trucks, nine light vehicles and five motorcycles. The vehicles were damaged in the fire.

The vessel left the Samboan port in Santander, Cebu at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday. – With AP