At least 42 feared dead in Philippine ferry inferno
At least 42 feared dead in Philippine ferry inferno
LUCENA, Philippines (Reuter): Forty-two people were killed when a Philippine inter-island ferry caught fire and sank early yesterday, with passengers leaping into the sea without life jackets in their panic, survivors and rescue officials said.
One survivor said the fire began when flames erupted "like a volcano" from what appeared to be an engine exhaust pipe at the rear of the wooden-hulled Viva Antipolo Six.
Police officially listed 23 people as missing but said the figure could be much higher and they would have no way of telling unless relatives contacted them.
The overloaded vessel was carrying many more than the 150 or so listed on its manifest, police said.
President Fidel Ramos has ordered an immediate inquiry into the disaster, according to a statement from the presidential palace.
He also ordered a halt to all sailing by other vessels owned by Antipolo Shipping Lines, an unlisted private company based in Lucena, until they had been inspected.
Tragedies at sea are frequent in the Philippines, a nation of more than 7,000 islands where ferries, often badly maintained and poorly equipped, are one of the most common forms of public transport.
More than 4,000 died in 1987 in the worst peacetime marine disaster when the ferry Dona Paz collided with a tanker in Philippine waters.
More recently, more than 140 people were killed last December when the ferry Cebu City collided with another tanker and sank at the mouth of Manila Bay.
A hundred people were rescued from the Viva Antipolo after the fire broke out between one and two a.m. (1700-1800 GMT Monday) as the ship approached the port of Lucena, 110 kilometers south of Manila.
Survivor Alberto Rejano, 17, said in an interview his father died in the fire and his six brothers were missing.
They boarded the vessel in Santa Cruz about 9.30 p.m. (1330 GMT) on Monday.
The first sign of trouble came when flames erupted "like a volcano" from the stern, he said.
Everyone onboard began to panic when the fire broke out and many people jumped into the sea without life preservers.
"When I saw it burning, I grabbed my nephew and tied a rope around my waist. I jumped into the water," Emerlita Rosas, 45, said in an interview at a Lucena hospital.
Rosas said her mother, with whom she was traveling, suffered a stroke and died when she saw the flames.
Rosas, who had serious burns, said she was separated from her nephew and did not know what happened to him after they leapt into the sea.
Talia de los Reyes, mother of a four-year-old boy who drowned, wailed as she sat by her second son who suffered serious injuries.
"My husband doesn't know that his son is dead," she cried. Many of the dead in Lucena mortuaries showed signs of suffocation or had serious burns.
Police said local fishermen were the first to launch a rescue effort and were later joined by police, the coast guard and the armed forces.
Rescue operations were suspended shortly before nightfall and police said they would resume in the morning.