Philippine authorities began the painstaking process of identifying victims from a ferry fire on Saturday (September 12, 2026), a day after responders recovered bodies from the burned-out vessel, raising the death toll to at least 35 and leaving more than 50 people missing.
Near the port, some family members anxiously watched as responders in protective suits carried black body bags from a Coast Guard vessel to temporary tents. “He loved his children very much. One survivor interviewed by GMA News recalled seeing a small amount of smoke that turned into a fire and quickly spread through the ferry within seconds.
One of them was Anelyn Magbanua, 37, whose husband was returning to Coron after visiting their children in Manila when the ferry, which was carrying more than 130 people, caught fire near the end of its more than 20-hour journey. Philippine Coast Guard official Geronimo Tuvilla said at a press conference on Saturday (September 12) that the immediate priority was to identify the victims and determine the cause of the fire. The fire is the latest in a string of deadly maritime accidents in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands where millions rely on ferries and small boats to travel between provinces and islands.
“It will be very difficult to accept if he’s really gone,” she said. A statement from the Maritime Industry Authority, citing survivor accounts, said two explosions were heard inside the vessel shortly before the fire broke out.
