30 bodies recovered from a ferry engulfed by fire in the Philippines

Coast guard spokesperson Nomi Cayabiab told AFP, "We have 30" bodies, indicating that there are more bodies.

Photos released by the coast guard showed bodies in bags being carried by men in protective suits to a small vessel.

This brings the death toll to 35.

Thirty passengers and 13 crew members were rescued, while 54 people remain missing.

Cayabiab had earlier indicated that the fire, which started in the cargo hold, engulfed the ship within seconds.

She explained, based on survivors' accounts, that some of those who managed to leave the ship did not have enough time to put on life jackets.

Police investigators, explosives experts, and military personnel headed on Friday aboard two inflatable boats to the site of the ship, which ran aground on a small island off Coron.

The passenger manifest showed that the ferry was carrying 134 passengers and crew members, in addition to cargo, goods, an electric vehicle, a pickup truck, and a number of motorcycles.

The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands with a population of about 116 million, frequently witnesses accidents involving inter-island ferries. Many people rely on low-cost ferries to travel between the various islands.

Last January, a three-deck ferry carrying more than 340 people sank, resulting in the deaths of at least 52 people.

Also, the ferry "MV Trisha Kerstin 3" sank on a maritime route close to the location that witnessed the death of 31 people in 2023 following a fire on board the ferry "Lady Mary Joy 3."