Passengers jump into water as more than 80 rescued from burning Philippine ferry
- The vessel, carrying 49 passengers and 38 crew members, was nearing the Batangas port south of Manila when smoke emerged from the second deck followed by flames
- ‘I pushed my children off because if we didn’t jump from the top, we would really get burned,’ said a commuter
Only two passengers are unaccounted for and authorities are checking if the two are missing or had been rescued but immediately went home without notifying officials who led the search efforts on Friday, the coastguard said.
The M/V Asia Philippines was listed as carrying 49 passengers and 38 crew members.
The ferry, which came from Calapan city in Oriental Mindoro province, was more than a kilometre away from the Batangas port, when smoke emerged from the second deck followed by flames, according to one of the rescued passengers.
The ferry’s proximity to the port allowed the rapid rescue of the victims even after nightfall by coastguard vessels and nearby ships, motor bancas and tugboats.
If we didn’t jump from the top, we would really get burned because the soles of our feet were already feeling the heat
One ship helped the coastguard extinguish the fire, which gutted the ferry that also carried at least 16 cars and trucks, coastguard officials said.