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The Philippine Coast Guard reported on Thursday that five people had been confirmed dead with 86 others unaccounted for after the MV June Aster caught fire the previous evening near Coron, a popular tourist destination in Palawan province. Commodore Noemie Cayabyab said 43 people had so far been rescued from the vessel, which carried 117 passengers and 17 crew members when it departed from Manila. Strong currents and persistent smoke continued to complicate efforts to fully extinguish the blaze more than 12 hours after it started at 18:45 local time.
According to Reuters, coast guard, military and civilian vessels had been deployed in a large-scale search, yet thick smoke, extreme heat and explosion risks kept rescuers from boarding the burned ferry. One survivor described hearing a loud explosion from the cargo hold before flames spread rapidly through the ship, though the exact cause had yet to be determined. Cayabyab noted that several of those pulled from the sea lacked life jackets, suggesting many jumped overboard as conditions deteriorated.
Roland Lerma told the BBC that he and fellow construction workers from Leyte province had been travelling to Coron for work when a sudden bang produced thick dark smoke shortly after dinner. “When I was on the floor, people were trampling all over me,” the 30-year-old recalled as panic set in and visibility dropped amid the intense heat. Lerma eventually reached the edge, leapt into the water and used his belongings to float while he and others waited two hours for rescue in cold conditions that he said would have proved fatal without timely help.
Lerma added that the vessel appeared old and that no passengers seemed to have been wearing life vests at the time of the incident. Seven survivors were transferred to a hospital on the neighbouring island of Culion, which offered greater medical capacity, while two Chilean nationals numbered among those rescued. Local authorities continued to treat the injured and coordinate with families awaiting news of the missing.
Ferry services form a vital link across the Philippine archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, where millions depend on maritime transport between provinces, Reuters reported. The country maintains a patchy maritime safety record in which past accidents have frequently been tied to overcrowding, rough weather and lax enforcement of regulations. A 2023 ferry fire in the southern Philippines killed 31 people, according to official tallies, underscoring persistent vulnerabilities in the sector.
The operator, Atienza Interisland Ferries, said in a statement that it was devastated by the losses and was working around the clock with investigators and rescue teams. The coast guard has employed drift-modelling tools and alerted coastal villages to watch for anyone who might have reached shore unaided. Search operations were expected to continue for days given the scale of those still missing.
