AT LEAST 12 people were declared dead while seven others remained missing after a ferry carrying around 240 passengers and crew caught fire Wednesday evening, March 29, 2023, in Baluk-Baluk Island in Kadji Muhtamad, Basilan.

In a radio interview, Commodore Marco Antonio Gines, commander of Philippine Coast Guard South Western Mindanao command, said that based on the initial report, the fire started around 11 p.m. art the second deck of M/V Lady Mary Joy 3.

He said the vessel, which is bound for Jolo, Sulu, was carrying 205 passengers and 35 crewmen.

“Ang report sa amin, ‘yung kapitan nung barko, isinadsad niya (‘yung barko) para mapalapit niya sa shoreline. Siguro yun ‘yung kanyang recourse to save the ship and the passengers kaya nandun s’ya ngayon sa Baluk-Baluk Island,” said Gines.

Basilan Governor Jim Hataman said many of those rescued had jumped off the ferry in panic at the height of the fire and were plucked from the sea by the coast guard, navy, another ferry and local fishermen.

The search and rescue effort was continuing Thursday, March 30, 2023.

The governor said most of those onboard the M/V Lady Mary Joy 3 were rescued overnight but authorities were double-checking the numbers from different rescue teams, suggesting the figures could change.

The dead included at least three children, who apparently were separated from their parents, and at least 23 passengers were injured and brought to hospitals, added Hataman.

“Some of the passengers were roused from sleep due to the commotion caused by the fire. Some jumped off the ship,” Hataman told The Associated Press by telephone.

The burned ferry has been towed to Basilan’s shoreline and an investigation was underway, Hataman said.

Most of those who died drowned and were recovered at sea, officials said.

Gines said investigation as to the cause of fire is ongoing but he ruled out overloading as it has the capacity to carry 400 passengers.

He said the survivors were brought to Zamboanga City.

In a separate interview, Basilan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief Nixon Alonzo said the other passengers and crew were all accounted for.

Gines said there was no report of an oil spill.

Sea accidents are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained boats, overcrowding and spotty enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.

In December 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker, killing more than 4,300 people in the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster. (With AP/SunStar Philippines)