PAGADIAN CITY – At least 3 people were killed and over 200 passengers rescued after a ferry caught fire off Dapitan City in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Norte, officials said Wednesday.
The vessel, MV Lite Ferry 16, was sailing to Dapitan from Cebu province when its engine caught fire before midnight Tuesday and engulfed the ferry, forcing passengers to don life vests and jumped in the cold water to escape the inferno.
LTJG Cherry Rose Manaay, the provincial Coast Guard station commander, said they received the report of the burning ferry at around 12.30 a.m. and quickly alerted ships to help rescue the passengers and brought them to Dapitan City.
The ferry had 136 passengers and three dozen crew members, but the Coast Guard said at least 245 people have been rescued. It was unclear how the Coast Guard came out with the high number of passengers, but an investigation is under way to determine whether there were people not listed on the manifest, and how the fire broke out in engine room.
The ferry, which departed from Samboan town late Tuesday, was about 4.5 nautical miles from Dapitan when the fire broke out, according to Manaay. “Search and rescue is continuing,” she said.
There was no immediate statement from the ferry’s owner or the captain of the vessel which was also transporting at least three dozen vehicles. (Zamboanga Post)
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