Philippine firefighters recovered charred remains aboard a burned-out passenger ferry on Friday, more than a day after the vessel caught fire while sailing from Manila to the western province of Palawan. The blaze killed at least five people and left more than 80 passengers missing.
The ferry was carrying over 130 people when flames engulfed it on Wednesday night. Thick smoke and extreme heat kept rescue teams from entering the vessel for hours, delaying the search for survivors and the dead. Authorities declared the fire out at 10:15am local time.
For the families gathered at the port, the wait has stretched into an agonising vigil, with relatives watching for any word on those still unaccounted for as coastguard teams comb the wreckage. Many arrived hoping to identify loved ones among the survivors pulled from the water.
The cause of the fire has not been established. Coastguard officials said rescue and recovery operations continued through Friday as teams searched compartments that had been too dangerous to reach while the ship still burned.
Ferry disasters remain a recurring danger across the archipelago, where boats are a primary means of travel between islands. Overcrowding, ageing vessels and safety lapses have contributed to some of the world’s deadliest maritime accidents in the region. Similar tragedies, such as a riverine boat disaster in India, have drawn attention to the wider problem of water-transport safety in Asia.
The Manila-to-Palawan route is heavily travelled by both residents and tourists heading to the province’s beaches and dive sites. The exact number of confirmed survivors had not been released as recovery work went on.
For passengers who regularly rely on inter-island ferries, the fire renews longstanding concerns about vessel inspections and emergency preparedness on crowded routes, questions that will likely shape the official inquiry into how the blaze started and spread so quickly.