Europe News Desk!!! At least 10 people have died and 230 others have been rescued after a boat caught fire in the Philippines. Officials have given this information on Thursday. Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commodore Marco Antonio Zine said the M/V Lady Mary Joy 3, a passenger and cargo ship, was on its way from Zamboanga City to Jolo when it capsized around midnight on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported. At 10 o’clock a fire broke out near the island of Baluk-Baluk. Nixon Alonzo, head of the disaster mitigation and management office in Basilan province, told a local radio that authorities were verifying reports that seven more passengers were missing after jumping into the sea. At least 195 passengers and 35 crew members have been rescued.
He said rescuers found four bodies on the vessel, while six were retrieved from the sea. The passengers died of drowning after jumping into the water, Alonzo said. Some people got burnt. Arsina Kahing-Nanoh, the mayor of Hadji Muhatmed, posted pictures of the ship on the beach of Baluk-Baluk island and some of the rescued passengers on social media. Authorities are probing the cause of the fire, which reportedly started in an air-conditioned cabin of the yacht. Most of the passengers were sleeping when the fire broke out.
–IANS
World News Desk!!
SKK/SKP