Emergency workers have recovered the remains of dozens more people who died when a passenger ferry caught fire in the Philippines, bringing the death toll to 76, the country’s Coast Guard said on Saturday.
The ferry, the June Aster, was carrying 132 people, including 17 crew members, from Manila to Coron, an island in Palawan Province, when a fire broke out on board on Wednesday. Over the next two days, rescuer workers first found five bodies, and then 30 more. Their efforts were hampered by conditions at sea that caused the vessel to drift nearly eight nautical miles away from its initial distress location.
On Saturday, the death toll climbed again when rescuers recovered 41 more bodies, Commodore Noemi Cayabyab, a Philippine Coast Guard spokeswoman, said in a statement. There are 43 survivors, but 13 people still remain unaccounted for, she added.
“This figure may still change as recovery and identification operations continue,” she said, noting that two people listed on the passenger manifest had not boarded the vessel.
The authorities are still investigating the cause of the blaze. The ferry, which left the Baseco port area in Manila, the capital, was scheduled to arrive at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Coron, a popular diving destination known for its limestone cliffs and clear waters. At approximately 6:45 p.m., when the June Aster was nearing the village of Marcilla on Coron Island, a fire broke out.
Surviving passengers described thick black smoke and screams in the ensuing chaos. Rescue workers found victims still inside the vessel, while other bodies floated in the water, witnesses said.
Maritime accidents occur frequently in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands. In January, at least 65 people died after a ferry sank in the southern part of the country.
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