The death toll from a ferry fire in the Philippines rose to 35 Friday, as rescuers pulled more bodies from the scorched wreck and continued searching for 54 people still missing two days after flames tore through the vessel Wednesday night off Palawan province.
Survivor Arnulfo Nokki Villanueva said the fire spread so fast he couldn’t grab a life jacket before diving out a window with burns on his back. “People were stepping on me. People were in panic,” Mr. Villanueva said.
The ferry had sailed from Manila and was about 4.5 miles from its destination, the tourist town of Coron, when the fire broke out. The cause hasn’t been determined.
Lira Daco waited at a rescue center for word on her missing 20-year-old daughter, Cyriel, saying she just wants a body to bury. “It’s painful to think that your child was asking for help while she was burning alive,” Ms. Daco said.
The ship’s manifest listed 134 people aboard — 117 passengers and 17 crew — well under its capacity of 306 passengers and 27 crew. Two ticketed passengers never boarded, the coast guard said.
Two tourists from Chile were among the 43 survivors and are recovering in a Coron hospital, according to a staffer for the ferry’s operator, Atienza Interisland Ferries Inc.
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• Death toll in Philippine ferry fire rises to 35 as more bodies are recovered
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