Fire engulfs Philippine ferry carrying over 100 people, killing 7
The MV Mercraft 2 departed from Polillo Island in the northeast region of the archipelago about 5 a.m. It was bound for the town of Real in Quezon province, almost 60 miles east of Manila. The coast guard received a distress call about an hour and a half later.
The fire happened some 1,000 yards from the port and “allegedly started in the engine room,” authorities said in an initial statement. About 23 out of the 120 rescued are injured, and three more are in critical condition. Of the dead, five were women and two were men.
By 10 a.m., the fire was declared “under control,” and the passengers and 10 crew members have been taken to Baluti Island in Real.
The Coast Guard Command Center said the ferry was made of fiberglass. There has been no announcement about the exact cause of the fire.
The Philippines is a nation of over 7,000 islands and no stranger to maritime disasters. One of the deadliest accidents took place in December 1987, when a collision between a passenger ship and an oil tanker left over 4,000 dead. The tragedy was covered in “Asia’s Titanic,” a documentary by National Geographic, which listed the incident as “the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster.”