Five killed, 86 missing after ferry catches fire in Philippines

At least five people have died and 86 remain missing after a passenger ferry caught fire off the coast of Palawan in the Philippines.

According to the Philippine Coast Guard said 43 people had been rescued and an ongoing search operation was underway for those still unaccounted for.

Authorities have yet to establish the cause of the fire, they said Wednesday (September 10).

The MV June Astor was carrying 134 people — 117 passengers and 17 crew members — when the vessel caught fire while sailing from Manila to Coron in Palawan province. It was reportedly about 1.2 nautical miles northeast of Barangay Maracellia when the blaze broke out.

Among those rescued were 38 passengers and four crew members, according to Coast Guard officials. The identities and whereabouts of the remaining passengers and crew were still being established.

Rescue teams from the coast guard and other agencies were continuing operations at sea as authorities investigated how the fire started and whether adequate safety measures were in place aboard the vessel.

Ferries are a major mode of transport in the Philippines, an archipelago of thousands of islands, particularly for communities where air connections are limited. The country has a long history of relying on inter-island vessels for relatively affordable passenger and cargo transport.