Death toll in Quezon ferry fire climbs to 9

SEA BLAZE Fire consumes MV Mercraft 2 near the port of Real, Quezon, in this photo on May 23. The Philippine Coast Guard and the Maritime Industry Authority have yet to wrap up the investigation into the cause of the blaze that killed nine passengers. —PHOTO COURTESY OF QUEZON PROVINCIAL POLICE

LUCENA CITY—The death toll from the fire that hit a ferry off the coast of Real, Quezon, on May 23 rose to nine after a mother and daughter who were injured during the incident died while being treated at a hospital in Metro Manila on Wednesday, local officials said.

Filomena Portales, Real municipal administrator and incident command post spokesperson, said Teodora Aumentado Cruz, 69, and her daughter, Cherie, 42, were the latest fatalities among passengers of MV Mercraft 2. Portales did not provide additional information on the circumstances of their death.

Polillo Mayor Cristina Bosque, in a telephone interview on Thursday, said Cherie was based in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

‘Highly combustible’

“She recently went home to attend the birthday celebration of her mother,” Bosque said.

The mayor said the mother and daughter left the island town on May 23 to travel to Davao for a leisure trip. They were among the 29 passengers injured after Mercraft 2, which came from Polillo Island and carrying 157 people on board, caught fire as it was approaching the port of Real. At least seven passengers were initially reported to have died that day.

Investigators found highly combustible materials at the deck of Mercraft.

“Due to heat, it’s possible that it ignited,” said Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commandant Artemio Abu.

The joint investigation of the PCG and the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) on the incident is still ongoing, he said.

“We are conducting the necessary investigation to find out how we could improve maritime safety,” added Abu.

The ship captain remains under PCG custody as the investigation continues to determine the cause of the fire.

Bosque, in an earlier interview, said the local government had ordered the vessel’s owner, Mercraft Shipping Corp., to “indefinitely stop” its operation in the town.

The Marina suspended Mercraft 2’s safety certificate but the vessel had been rendered unserviceable following the fire. The company is now left with only one ferry servicing the route.

The vessel’s wreckage had been towed to the shore of Baluti Island at Barangay Cawayan in Real.In December 2017, another vessel owned by the company, MV Mercraft 3, which carried 251 passengers, capsized between the waters of Dinahican Point in Infanta town and Polillo Island, resulting in the death of five passengers. —WITH A REPORT FROM TINA G. SANTOS INQ