More than 100 missing, one dead in RP ferry fire

More than 100 missing, one dead in RP ferry fire

Agence France-Presse, Manila

More than 100 people were missing and at least one was confirmed
dead after an explosion triggered a fire on a Philippine ferry
before dawn on Friday, the coast guard said.

The 10,192-ton Superferry 14, carrying almost 900 passengers,
had just left Manila for the central Philippines when the
accident occurred shortly before 1 a.m. (midnight in Jakarta),
the coast guard said.

Hundreds of people were plucked from the burning ship near
Corregidor island on the mouth of Manila Bay by coast guard
vessels and passing fishing boats which responded to the distress
call.

Some of the injured arrived at the coast guard headquarters on
the dockside with their faces almost burned beyond recognition. A
line of waiting ambulances sped the victims away.

Christie Cayetona, one of the rescued passengers, recounted
being woken up by a loud explosion from her bunk below deck.

"We rushed toward the main deck," she told Manila radio
station DZRH by telephone aboard a rescue vessel. "There was
smoke all over."

Coast guard Commodore Wilfredo Tamayo in his latest report
said that of the 879 people passengers and crew, 112 remained
missing, although operator Aboitiz Transport said 899 people were
on board.

Aboitiz spokeswoman Gina Virtusio said the discrepancy will be
"cleared up when we are able to match the names of those rescued
and those in the manifest," Virtusio said.

Aboitiz had earlier said two passengers had died, but
subsequently corrected the figure to only one.

Virtusio held up hope that those missing could still be alive.

"While the rescue was ongoing, the captain impressed to us
that they all disembarked and were transferred to the vessels
around," Virtusio said, adding "we have an anticipation that more
(survivors) will be coming up."

Tamayo said search and rescue operations would continue into
the dusk, but said investigators would not be able to penetrate
the hull of the burned ship, which was still smouldering.

President Gloria Arroyo ordered a thorough probe into the
accident, the latest in a long list of sea accidents in the
archipelagic Philippines.

"All the possible angles will be looked into," her spokesman,
Ignacio Bunye said. "Let us wait for the results of the
investigation. We do not wish to jump to premature conclusions."