On September 12, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) confirmed that the number of victims killed in the passenger ferry fire that occurred on September 9 off the coast of Palawan province has skyrocketed to 76, after rescue teams found 41 more bodies inside the shipwreck.
Currently, 13 people are still missing, while the number of lucky survivors recorded is 43 people.
Search and rescue work and the investigation into the cause of the fire are still being urgently deployed by functional agencies at the scene. The rescue team is currently racing against time to get deeper into the bottom compartments of the ferry wreck to search for the last victims, and at the same time support the transportation of bodies to the mainland to carry out identification procedures.
In parallel with efforts to salvage and examine the scene, Philippine authorities are urgently collecting material samples and taking statements from survivors to investigate the direct cause of this tragic fire.
Previously, images provided by PCG showed that the entire structure of the ship had been melted and heavily deformed by fire, leaving only the black metal frame submerged in ashes.
