Philippine ferry fire death toll reaches 35 as rescuers recover more bodies

The fire started Wednesday night on a passenger ferry bound for Coron, a tourist destination in Palawan province known for its limestone cliffs and clear waters. By Friday, as rescuers pulled more bodies from the burned wreck, the death toll had climbed to 35. Another 54 people remained unaccounted for. The 174-foot vessel had been carrying 134 people—117 passengers and 17 crew members—when flames erupted roughly 4.5 miles off the village of Turda, still short of its destination.

The ferry had departed from Manila. When the fire was reported, rescue operations began immediately, but the intensity of the heat and smoke made it nearly impossible for rescuers to enter the ship and search for trapped passengers. Progress was slow and difficult. By Friday, coast guard personnel had recovered 30 bodies aboard their rescue boat, with plans to transport them the following day. The vessel's capacity allowed for far more people—306 passengers and 27 crew—but only a fraction of that number had been aboard when disaster struck.

Images released by the coast guard showed the ferry's gutted interior: charred metal, ash, burned vehicles, and what appeared to be human remains. Rows of body bags were photographed being loaded onto a small ship, with rescue workers in hazmat suits moving methodically through the scene. The cause of the fire had not yet been determined.

Among those waiting for answers was Lira Daco, who stood at a rescue center in Turda hoping for word about her 20-year-old daughter, Cyriel. The uncertainty was compounded by the condition of the remains. "It's painful to think that your child was asking for help while she was burning alive," Daco said. "I don't know how we can find out which one is my child. It's OK if she just drowned and we can recover her body and give her a proper burial. But now we can't recognize or hug her."

Survivor Arnulfo Nokki Villanueva described the chaos of those moments. In a video broadcast by News5, he recounted how the fire spread rapidly through the vessel. "That's when I dropped to the ground and my back was burned," he said. He managed to jump from a window, though he was unable to secure a life jacket as panicked passengers trampled over him in their rush to escape. Forty-three people in total made it off the ferry alive. Two of the survivors were tourists from Chile, according to Rachel Conserman, a staffer with the ship's owner, Atienza Interisland Ferries Inc. They were being treated for injuries at a hospital in Coron.

The shipping company released a statement saying it was assisting survivors and their families while working with the coast guard and maritime officials to locate the missing and investigate what caused the fire. The manifest showed that two passengers listed as being on board had actually failed to board the vessel.

The disaster reflects a persistent pattern in the Philippine archipelago, where ferries are the primary means of transport between islands. Sea accidents occur with troubling regularity, driven by a combination of factors: storms, vessels that are poorly maintained, overcrowding, and inconsistent enforcement of safety regulations, particularly in remote areas. In January of the same year, a triple-decker ferry carrying more than 340 people sank off the southern Philippines, killing at least 52. That vessel went down along nearly the same route where 31 people had died in 2023 after a fire broke out aboard the Lady Mary Joy 3. The Wednesday night fire represents another chapter in a cycle of maritime tragedy that continues to claim lives in Philippine waters.