At least 76 people were killed when a passenger ferry caught fire in the Philippines, authorities said Saturday, in one of the world's deadliest maritime disasters this year. The tragedy follows major ferry disasters in Zimbabwe and Guyana earlier this year, including a capsize on Lake Kariba that killed at least 94 people and the sinking of the MV Barima off Guyana's coast which is estimated to have killed around 100 people. Newsweek has reached out to the Philippine Coast Guard and Maritime Industry Authority for comment via email on Saturday.
The MV June Aster was carrying 132 people when it caught fire Wednesday night, near the end of a 20-hour voyage from Manila to Coron in Palawan province. The ferry was about 24 miles from its destination when the blaze broke out. Authorities said survivors reported hearing an explosion before smoke and flames rapidly engulfed the vessel.
Investigators have not yet determined what caused the fire and a maritime safety and criminal investigation will be underway. Philippine authorities have been recovering remains from the burned-out vessel over the past few days, with forensic teams working to identify victims. Philippine Coast Guard official Geronimo Tuvilla said at a press conference on Saturday that the immediate priority was to identify the victims and determine the cause of the fire, according to .
There are 43 recorded survivors as of Saturday. The Coast Guard said the captain is reportedly alive although not listed among the survivors. Ferry travel is a crucial mode of transportation in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands where many communities are accessible only by sea.
A government-owned ferry carrying about 180 passengers capsized on Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba in August, killing at least 94 people in what state media described as the country's deadliest transportation disaster. "When the boat capsized, most of the people scrambled to get the life jackets but most of them did not even know how to use them," Chance Siyamavhu, a 45-year-old survivor, told AFP. "Most people could not make it." He added: "Our relatives were swept in another direction and they sank because we were not in a position to help them." Authorities said the vessel was traveling from Kariba to a remote lakeside community when it encountered strong waves and overturned.
Officials later said the ferry, which had a capacity of 90 passengers, was carrying roughly twice that number, reported. In July, the MV Barima, an 87-year-old state-run ferry, capsized off the coast of Guyana, leaving an estimated 100 people dead after additional bodies were recovered from the wreck. At least 69 people were rescued.
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