More than 40 hours after a devastating fire broke out on a Philippine passenger-cargo ferry, search and rescue teams have finally gained access to the charred vessel to continue looking for dozens of unaccounted-for passengers. As of Friday morning, official updates confirm five people have been confirmed dead in the incident, 43 survivors have been pulled from the water or evacuated from the burning ship, and many of those rescued are currently receiving medical care at local hospitals. A total of 84 passengers and crew remain missing, down from an earlier count of 86 after authorities confirmed two people listed on the vessel’s manifest never actually boarded the ferry.
The MV June Aster was en route from the Philippine capital of Manila to Coron, a popular tourist island in the province of Palawan, when the fire ignited late Wednesday. Images released by the Philippine Coast Guard Friday morning showed thin plumes of smoke still rising from the vessel’s blackened hull, a sign that smoldering continued to hamper response efforts for days after the blaze began. Toxic fumes and residual heat inside the ship prevented rescuers from entering the hull throughout Thursday, with teams only able to board the vessel at approximately 11:30 a.m. local time Friday.
Coast Guard spokeswoman Noemie Cayabyab earlier explained to reporters that persistent thick smoke and dangerous internal temperatures posed major life threats to response personnel. “The biggest challenge for us really is to penetrate the ship [as] there is still a visible, thick smoke,” Cayabyab told the BBC before the boarding. “No matter how we try to push through, high temperatures and toxic smoke remain a severe risk to our personnel,” she added to local Philippine media. Incomplete combustion inside the cargo hold has produced smoke with lethal concentrations of carbon monoxide, further complicating search efforts.
To expand the scope of the operation, search teams have widened their search area off the coast of Palawan. The Coast Guard has deployed one of its largest vessels to the site, launched emergency radio broadcasts to alert passing commercial ships to watch for survivors in the water, and added specialized divers and medical nurses to search crews. Following the initial boarding, the next step for response teams is to resume full firefighting operations, starting with the cargo hold – the section of the vessel where the fire is believed to have originated, according to preliminary statements from survivors.
Survivor accounts have painted a terrifying picture of the panic that unfolded as the fire spread. Thirty-year-old Roland Lerma, who was pulled from the sea by rescuers, described scenes of chaos as people scrambled to escape the burning vessel. “When I was on the floor, people were trampling me,” Lerma told the BBC. After crawling through the panicked crowd to regain his balance, he jumped off the ferry into the dark ocean. Lerma added that he saw multiple children jump into the water alongside him, but he could not make out their identities in the low light. “It was cold [in the sea] If the rescue had been delayed, I would definitely have died,” he said.
Officials also noted that some passengers on board were not wearing life vests when the fire broke out, a detail that will factor into the ongoing investigation.
The Philippine Maritime Authority has launched a full inquiry into the cause and circumstances of the fatal fire. Local outlet Palawan Daily reported that the 24-year-old ferry, built in 2002, held all required valid safety certificates and passed a mandatory enforcement inspection as recently as March this year. Despite this, investigators will examine multiple potential contributing factors, including discrepancies in the passenger and cargo manifest, whether cargo was loaded correctly and safely, and whether the crew followed proper emergency response protocols after the fire started.
Atienza Interisland Ferries, the company that operates the MV June Aster, has said it will provide full cooperation to investigators. In a statement released Thursday, the company said: “Our hearts remain with the affected families, and we will not rest until all individuals are accounted for.”