Philippine ferry fire death toll stands at 76 as DNA work starts on charred remains

The Philippine Coast Guard put the death toll from the MV June Aster fire at 76 on Saturday after crews recovered 41 more remains from the burned hull off Coron, Palawan. Commodore Noemi Cayabyab said 43 people survived and 13 were still missing. Two names on the passenger list had never boarded. The numbers may move again because flooded lower decks have not been fully searched.

The ferry left Baseco in Manila with 117 passengers and 17 crew, 134 people in the first official count, later refined to 132 once the no-shows were logged. It was on a 20-hour run to Coron, a diving town known for limestone cliffs and wrecks, when fire broke out at about 18.45 on Wednesday 10 September, 1.2 nautical miles north-east of Barangay Marcilla. Survivors described black smoke and screaming. Some were not wearing life jackets.

The Maritime Industry Authority, citing those survivors, said two explosions were heard inside the ship before the fire took hold. Early interviews pointed at the cargo hold. Investigators have not confirmed an origin. They still cannot reach the engine room and parts of the lower decks. Toxic fumes and heat kept teams off the wreck until Friday. The hull also drifted nearly eight nautical miles from the first distress point, which slowed the first recoveries.

Most of the dead were found in the sleeping area. Police forensic specialist Richard Allan Mangalip said many remains were charred and clustered, others scattered. DNA matching with families will take weeks and may take months. That sentence is the one relatives at the Coron quay have to live with. Myra Bilan, 47, whose sister and brother-in-law were travelling to Palawan to deliver beds, told Reuters she wanted the government to act because so many people had died.

Atienza Interisland Ferries, the operator, pledged cooperation and said it would not rest until everyone was accounted for. The Coast Guard is running the recovery. The cause file sits with the maritime authority and the police. Philippine ferry fires have a long record. This one is already among the deadliest in recent years because the fire reached the bunks before people could reach the water.

Coron will go on receiving tourists on other boats. The June Aster is now a forensic site. The 13 missing names are the next count that matters, together with whatever the engine room yields when the water is pumped and the metal is cool enough to enter.

The comparison with Virgo Transport 8 in the Java Sea, which capsized a day later with 129 still missing, is not a literary device. It is the same regional fact. Archipelagic states move millions of people on old hulls through weather and cargo rules that look adequate until the night they are not. One ship burned. One ship rolled. Both left families on a quay waiting for a number to change.