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Philippine ferry fire kills 2; scores missing A powerful explosion ripped through a passenger ferry carrying about 900 people early Friday, sparking an inferno that killed at least two people, injured 12 others and left more than 100 missing, officials said.
Twice, the fire appeared to be out, only to rekindle. Shortly after dawn, more than five hours after the blaze erupted, two loud successive explosions inside the back section of the ferry were followed by billowing black smoke and walls of flame. Listing to starboard, the steel-hulled Superferry 14 was towed into a cove in Mariveles town on the Bataan Peninsula, near the mouth of Manila Bay, where it lay on one side in shallow water, still smoldering. The ship's owner, WG&A, said two bodies have been recovered. At least 12 people were injured, most with burns, the coast guard said. There were conflicting reports about what caused the explosion and fire. Coast guard Rear Adm. Danilo Abinoja said it may have originated in the engine room, while a passenger said an air conditioner exploded. WG&A spokeswoman Gina Virtusio said the fire started in the tourist section on the third deck, which includes air-conditioned sleeping cabins and a dining area. "We don't know what really happened," she told reporters. She said the company follows strict anti-terror measures, which include bomb-sniffing dogs on the ship. It wasn't clear what happened to the animals. A Dutch passenger, Wilhelm Van Eeken, said he was sleeping in a cabin with his Filipino wife and 3-year-old son when they were awakened by a strong explosion. A crew member knocked on the door and told them to assemble on the deck, where they were lowered onto a waiting boat. "All the passengers panicked. We donned life jackets and we ran toward the topmost part of the ship," another passenger, Christie Alletona, 20, told radio station DZRH by cell phone. The rescue operation included air force helicopters, six coast guard ships, four navy vessels, five tugboats, five commercial vessels and a number of fishing boats. The military vessels were at a joint exercise with the United States not too far from the site, said local officials. WG&A said the fire broke out near Corregidor Island, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Manila, nearly two hours after the ferry left port with 702 paying passengers and a crew of 155. In addition, there were 42 passengers or children who didn't pay for the trip. The ship was headed for the central city of Bacolod and southern Cagayan de Oro city. Coast guard Apprentice Jess Galicah said the ship had a capacity of 1,672 passengers. It was built in Japan about 15 years ago and had been operated by WG&A for the last three years. Small boats and ferries are the chief means of travel among islands in the Philippine archipelago, where boat accidents are common. The Philippines was the site of the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster when a ferry sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in 1987, killing 4,340 people. Following a collision between a wooden ferry and a steel-hulled passenger ship last May that killed at least 25 people, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo promised to enforce navigation rules. |
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