All 120 passengers and crew members on board a Philippine ferry that caught fire while at sea on Sunday were rescued safely and the blaze was extinguished, the country’s coast guard said.
The fire broke out at dawn while the M/V Esperanza Star was travelling from Siquijor province to Bohol province in central Philippines, officials said.
The coast guard said it deployed two vessels for the rescue mission and to help put out the flames, which raged for more than five hours.
Photos and video released by the coast guard showed flames and black smoke billowing from two decks at one end of the ferry.
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Coast guard personnel on board another vessel used a water cannon to put out the fire, while a fishing boat and one other vessel could be seen nearby.
“All those who were on board the ferry are safe,” coast guard spokeswoman Joy Gumatay said in a statement, but gave no further details.
She added that the survivors were taken to the port city of Tagbilaran in Bohol province and an investigation is under way.
Sea accidents are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, poorly maintained vessels, overcrowding and patchy enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.
In March, a fire broke out – and raged overnight – on a ferry carrying about 250 people, killing at least 31 passengers and crew members off the southern island province of Basilan, the coast guard said.
In December 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker, killing more than 4,300 people in the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster. – Associated Press
