At least 23 killed as ferry catches fire off Quezon

Panicked passengers jumped to their deaths in the sea after a fast-moving fire swept across a ferry carrying more than 240 passengers off Quezon province yesterday, killing at least 23 people, the Coast Guard said yesterday.

"We were fighting for life vests," said Inocencio Salubre, a 45-year-old security guard who jumped into the water clutching his seven- year-old son, one of at least 220 people rescued from the MV Maria Carmela after the blaze broke out at around 7:30 a.m. Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Arman Balilo said the survivors were taken to Lucena City, the ill-fated ship’s destination, for medical treatment.

"Some people jumped off the ship without life vests and those who did not know how to swim drowned," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Elpidio Cunio.

Around 150 people sustained injuries; 70 of them had to be hospitalized.

Search operations were continuing for 51 people reported missing.

The Coast Guard said it was possible that other survivors had been picked up by private vessels as the area is a busy shipping lane and fishing area.

"Hopefully, some of them are safe. We are praying for that," Cunio said.

Five inter-island vessels – the MV Sta. Cruz, MV Florenda, MV Teresa, MV Seagull and MV Mina – and six local fishing boats joined the search-and-rescue operations.

"We know that there are more passengers that were saved. Four more ships are carrying passengers from the site," Coast Guard commander Vice Adm. Reuben Lista said. "More people could have been killed if not for the various shipping lines and fisherfolk that helped rescue the passengers."

A Philippine Air Force helicopter from the 505th Search and Rescue Group from Villamor Air Base in Pasay was dispatched to help in the recovery efforts.

The Maria Carmela had left the town of Masbate at about 2 a.m. on Wednesday and had been an hour away from its destination when it caught fire near Pagbilao Chica island in Atimonan, Quezon, 18 kilometers off Lucena.

Hours later, television clips showed the ship covered with smoke and flames leaping out of the hold as it was pulled to shore by a tugboat. The bodies of some of the victims were reportedly charred.

Survivors said the fire began in the cargo hold, which was carrying copra or coconut fuel, near the engine room, and swept across the vessel in 10 minutes.

"One of the vests fell into flames near the stairs," Salubre told Reuters from a hospital bed in Lucena City where he was treated for burns. "I grabbed it."

He said he floated for a while before he and his son were picked up by a passing boat but still had no word on what had happened to his wife and daughter. "I looked back and I saw our ship all in flames... When we reached shore, all I could do was cry. I have run out of tears crying for my wife and my daughter."

"I don’t know how to swim...I just floated on my back kicking my feet," said 52-year-old Guadalupe Derapite, who also suffered minor burns. "I was not afraid because I know that God would protect me."

Another survivor, Juanito Capareno, said he survived by clinging to a length of rope thrown at him. "We were holding on to the rope. Minutes later, all of them (the others) were gone," he said. "One of them was a boy."

Balilo said the cause of the fire is still being investigated, and the fatalities being identified. "There was no overloading of the ship," Lista said. "We are in the process of interviewing the captain."

A 680-ton passenger and cargo vessel designed to carry about 326 passengers plus vehicles, the Maria Carmela is owned and operated by Montenegro Shipping Lines. It has a complement of 47 crewmen.

Gov. Antonio Kho of Masbate ordered local officials to extend assistance to the survivors and the victims’ relatives.

It was the latest maritime disaster in the country where the sea offers the cheapest and most prevalent form of travel.

Overcrowding on inter-island ferries is rife and the safety record is dismal. In 1987, about 4,000 people died in a collision between the ferry Doña Paz and an oil tanker near Manila – the world’s worst peacetime sea tragedy. — Nestor Etolle, Rey Arquiza, Sheila Crisostomo, Celso Amo