PALAWAN, the Philippines: A deadly blaze that swept through a Philippine ferry happened "in seconds", the coast guard said on Friday (Sep 11), as rescuers battled heavy smoke in the search for dozens of missing people.The fire that tore through the M/V June Aster on Wednesday evening near the tourist hotspot of Coron, Palawan, has killed at least five people, while another 84, including the ship's captain and chief engineer, remain unaccounted for."Everything happened in seconds," coast guard spokeswoman Commodore Noemie Cayabyab said in a radio interview on Friday."From the time that they heard the loud explosion, the appearance of smoke, and then fire. It spread very quickly," she said of survivors' accounts, adding that those who made it off the ship had not even had time to put on life jackets.
The still-smouldering ferry, which originally departed from Manila, sits about a kilometre from Coron after running aground just off a smaller island."There's still smoke coming out from different sections," Cayabyab said, adding that coast guard personnel intended to enter the ship and conduct firefighting operations.
The ruins of a ferry that caught fire off Palawan. the Philippines, on Sep 10, 2026. (Photo: Philippine Coast Guard via AFP)
