Passengers of burning ship safe

Passengers of burning ship safe

MANILA (AP): All 520 passengers aboard a Philippine passenger ship were safely transferred to another ship after their vessel's engine room caught fire, a company official said on Sunday.

The ship, the MV Trans Asia-1, was traveling from Cagayan de Oro to Cebu in the central Philippines when a fire broke out in its engine room late on Saturday, said Jonji Gonzales, spokesman for Trans Asia Shipping Lines.

Two sister ships responded to a distress call from the ship and all the passengers were transferred to one of them, the MV Trans Asia-Hong Kong, Gonzales said.

The damaged ship, with a capacity of 1,713 passengers, was towed by a tugboat back to Cagayan de Oro, Gonzales said.