Fire on passenger ship in the Philippines, death toll reaches 35

The death toll from the fire that engulfed a passenger ship in the Philippines has risen to 35 after 30 bodies were recovered from the vessel, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

“In an initial count, 30 bodies were recovered from the June Aster today,” the Coast Guard said.

The bodies were found in the wreckage of the ship near Coron, a popular tourist area on the island of Palawan. Authorities had earlier announced that bodies had also been discovered there, but did not specify how many.

Access to the vessel became possible only after firefighters extinguished the flames that had blocked search-and-rescue efforts since Wednesday night.

Footage released by the Coast Guard showed rescuers wearing protective suits transporting black body bags in a small boat to a Coast Guard vessel.

The operation had previously been hampered by thick smoke and intense heat, while the ship was carrying more than 130 people when the fire broke out.

The Philippines, an archipelago where coastal travel is often carried out on vessels that fail to meet basic safety standards, regularly faces maritime tragedies.

At the end of January, the sinking of the Trisha Kerstin 3 ferry, which was traveling from Mindanao to Jolo, caused the deaths of 52 people. Another fire on a ferry traveling the same route in 2023 left 31 people dead.