Death toll on the June Aster reaches 76 as Coron starts DNA identification

The Philippine Coast Guard said on Saturday that rescuers had taken 41 more bodies off the burned ferry June Aster, raising the death toll to 76. Thirteen people remain unaccounted for. Forty-three survived. Two names on the passenger list never boarded. Commodore Noemi Cayabyab, the Coast Guard spokeswoman, said the figure could still move as recovery continues.

The June Aster was carrying 132 people, including 17 crew, from Manila to Coron in Palawan when fire broke out at about 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, 10 September. The ship was 2.2 kilometres off the village of Marcilla, near the end of a crossing that usually lasts more than 20 hours. Survivors described thick black smoke and screams. A Maritime Industry Authority statement, citing passenger accounts, said two explosions were heard before flames moved through the passenger areas. Cayabyab told local media that wind may have sped the fire and that some people jumped without life jackets.

Recovery was slow because the hulk drifted. Over two days it moved nearly eight nautical miles from the first distress point. It now sits grounded about 7.5 kilometres off Coron. Five bodies were found in the first hours, 30 more on Friday, 41 on Saturday. Responders in protective suits carried bags from a Coast Guard vessel into tents at Borac port while relatives waited. Anelyn Magbanua, 37, told reporters her husband had been returning to Coron after visiting their children in Manila.

Forensic specialist Richard Allan Mangalip of the Philippine National Police said on Sunday that most remains were already charred. Some were clustered in parts of the ship. Others were scattered. He would not give a firm identification timetable. "It could be weeks, or it could be much longer." Tourism official Kristine Ablana said one-metre-deep graves had been prepared for temporary burial until DNA work is finished. Investigators have not yet fully searched flooded lower decks and the engine room, which means more remains may still be on board and the origin of the fire is still unproven.

Among the 43 survivors were 30 passengers, including two Chilean nationals, and 13 crew. Coron is a tourist island. The Manila-Coron ferry is how many residents and visitors move when air seats are full or too expensive. A fire this close to arrival, with explosions reported by survivors, will sit on the Maritime Industry Authority and the Coast Guard until they can enter the engine spaces.

The Philippines has a long file of ferry disasters. What is specific here is the combination of a late-voyage fire, a drifting burned hull, and a forensic caseload that officials already say may last months. Families in Coron will bury people under temporary markers while laboratories match samples. The open investigative questions are where the fire started, what exploded, and why so many passengers were still below when the smoke reached them 2.2 kilometres from shore.