Fire engulfs Philippine ship at sea, 23 dead

Fire engulfs Philippine ship at sea, 23 dead

Romeo Ranoco, Reuters, Lucena, Philippines

At least 23 people died in the Philippines on Thursday when fire engulfed a ferry with about 270 people on board in the latest maritime tragedy to hit the archipelago.

Survivors reported scuffles among passengers over life vests as flames raced through the 680-tonne vessel within minutes and officials said many of the dead drowned after jumping overboard.

At least 246 people were rescued and three were still missing, coast guard officials said over 12 hours after the MV Maria Carmela caught fire. Chances of finding any of the missing alive were considered remote.

Radio reports said the fire began in a cargo hold as the ship steamed from the central Philippine island of Masbate toward the port of Lucena, about 110 km (65 miles) southeast of the capital Manila.

"The flames were just a meter away from me and I grabbed my son and we jumped into the water," Inocencio Salubre told Reuters at a Lucena hospital where he, his seven-year-old son and about 90 other survivors were being treated for burns, shock and other injuries.

Salubre, a security guard who was picked up by a passing boat, had no word on what had happened to his wife and daughter.

Another survivor, Juanito Capareno, said he and others had clung to a length of rope thrown at them. "We were five holding on to the rope. Minutes later, all of them (the others) were gone," he said. "One of them was a boy."

Overcrowding on inter-island ferries in the Philippines is rife and the safety record is dismal. In 1987, about 4,000 people died in a collision between the ferry Dona Paz and an oil tanker near Manila -- the world's worst peacetime sea tragedy.

At least 138 people drowned and 70 were rescued two years ago when an overloaded ferry capsized off southern Jolo island.

The coast guard said the fire started when the MV Maria Carmela was 11 miles (19 km) off Lucena. The ship was carrying 243 manifested passengers and 22 crew but some more people got on just before the vessel sailed and were not listed, coast guard officials said.

Montenegro Shipping Lines, the owners of the ship, had earlier said 243 passengers and 47 crew were on board.

Coast guard vessels, passing commercial ships and fishermen took part in the rescue operations.

Montenegro said 23 people were confirmed dead.

"Some people jumped off the ship without life vests and those who did not know how to swim drowned," coast guard Lt. Com. Elpidio Cunio told Reuters by phone from Lucena.

Manila radio station DZMM said the fire spread across the ship, passenger and cargo vessel, within 10 minutes. Television showed the ship covered with smoke and flames leaping out of the hold as it was pulled to shore by a tugboat.