CEBU CITY, Philippines —At least 50 passengers of the passenger ferry that caught fire early Wednesday morning have arrived at the Dapitan Port in Zamboanga del Norte.
Alan Barredo, a passenger of the Fast Cat which was the first to respond the distress call sent by Lite Ferry 16, said the rescued passengers are now being taken care of.
“Nagbigay na kami ng mga damit sa kanila. (We were able to give them clothes already),” he said in an interview over radio Cebu City-based dyLA.
Lite Ferry 16, which came from Samboan town in southern Cebu, was just 1.5 nautical miles from Pulauan Port in Dapitan City when it caught fire past 1 a.m. on Wednesday, August 28.
Investigation revealed that the fire started in the engine room of the passenger vessel.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)-Cebu said there were 137 passengers on board — 109 adults, 24 children, and four infants.
There were also 28 vehicles also on board.
Barredo, who was on board Fast Cat, a fast craft bound to Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental from Dapitan, said they were already sailing for an hour when the vessel received a distress signal from Lite Ferry 16.
Fast Cat immediately turned back to help in the rescue operations.
When they arrived, Barrido said, the ship was already on fire, including the vehicles on board.
At least 30 passengers clad in life vests were huddled at the rear part of the vessel – the only portion that had not caught fire yet.
Barrido said they rescued these passengers as well as those whom they saw floating in the water.
He added it took them four hours to finish the rescue operation because it was too hot.
The crew of Fast Cat also had to take some precautionary measures since their own vessel might also catch fire especially that explosions could be heard from the ill-fated ship.
Asked what happened to the other passengers, Barrido said he didn’t know where they were and if they were also picked up by other vessels since they only managed to get about 50 of them. /muf