At least ten people died in a fire on a passenger ferry in the southern Philippines on Thursday evening. 195 passengers and 35 crew members were rescued alive by the “MV Lady Mary Joy 3”.
According to civil protection, the ferry caught fire around 11 p.m. (local time) near the island of Baluk-Baluk, about 880 kilometers south of the capital Manila. “Most of the passengers were asleep at the time,” said Rejard Marpe of the local Coast Guard.
Some passengers panicked and jumped into the sea to avoid the flames, said Nixon Alonzo, disaster management chief for the region. “Some of the dead were found on the ship, others drowned.” The cause of the fire is still unclear. However, according to some survivors, the flames came from air-conditioned cabins.
Shipwrecks again and again
Traveling on water is part of everyday life in the Philippines. The archipelago consists of more than 7000 islands. Accidents are common due to inadequate safety standards and overcrowding. The worst peacetime shipping disaster occurred in Philippine waters in 1987 when a ferry collided with a tanker. Then more than 4000 people died.
Source: Krone
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