The authorities of the Philippines today reported that they are looking for the ferry commander whose fire occurred on Wednesday near the island of Coron (west), left a provisional balance of 35 dead and 54 missing.
© Philippine Coast Guard/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
12/09/2026
by
Lusa
A coast Guard spokesman Noemie Cayabyab today mentioned at a press conference that, according to the ongoing investigation, the commander may be among the 43 people who survived the incident.
The authorities intend to listen to the master of the vessel to determine any liability in the accident. Cayabyab mentioned earlier that the possibility of negligence by the crew is not ruled out.
“ Undoubtedly, the captain has a responsibility and a legal obligation ", said Cayabyab in an intervention transmitted through social networks.
According to the investigations, the fire began on Wednesday afternoon in the cargo hold of the ferry, which left on Tuesday of Manila for a trip that should take about 12 hours, for causes that it was not yet possible to determine. Within minutes, the flames involved the vessel, where 115 passengers and 17 crew were traveling.
On Friday, authorities were able to access the passenger ship for the first time and recover the remains of 30 people, raising the number of confirmed deaths to 35.
According to the spokesman, according to the latest update, there are 54 missing, and the presence on board of persons not on the ship's passenger list has not been discarded.
Emergency teams still continue the work of recovering bodies inside the ship, which was towed near the Corón coast — in the tourist province of Palawan, in the South China Sea — to facilitate operations.
Marine accidents in the Philippines make dozens of lives every year, most of them in shipwrecks caused by bad weather, non-compliance with safety standards, poor equipment maintenance or overload.