Philippine rescuers on Friday resumed the search for survivors of a ferry fire that killed at least five people off the western province of Palawan, with more than 80 people still missing.
Rescue operations were complicated by thick smoke still emanating from the burned vessel, preventing responders from boarding the ferry, Cayabyab, spokesperson for the Philippine Coast Guard, said.
Cayabyab said the number of missing was revised to 84 from 86 after authorities verified that two people originally listed on the manifest had not been on board. The number of people rescued stood at 43.
Richard Marceliano, one of the survivors, told GMA News that he saw a small amount of smoke that quickly turned into a raging fire and spread through the ferry within seconds. He said he and other passengers spent nearly two hours floating in the sea before they were rescued.
The Coast Guard has deployed five vessels and divers to the area, while army rescue boats, fishermen and private resort owners continued to assist in the search that began Wednesday night. Cayabyab said a larger Coast Guard vessel would also be deployed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Philippine rescuers on Friday resumed the search for survivors of a ferry fire that killed at least five people off the western province of Palawan, with more than 80 people still missing.Rescue operations were complicated by thick smoke still emanating from the burned vessel, preventing responders from boarding the ferry, Cayabyab, spokesperson for the Philippine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n