SEVEN passengers died after a high-speed passenger vessel carrying 134 people caught fire off Real town in Quezon yesterday morning, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.
MV Mercraft 2 left Polillo Island, also in Quezon, at around 5 a.m. and figured in the mishap at around 6:30 a.m, 500 to 1,000 yards from the port of Real, said PCG spokesman Commodore Armand Balilo.
“It was very visible from the pier, that’s why many rescue personnel were able to respond,” said Balilo of the vessel.
Balilo discounted overloading as cause of the accident, noting the fast craft’s authorized capacity is 180 people.
The vessel, owned and operated by Erwel Merania based in Batangas, was carrying 126 passengers and eight crew members at the time, the PCG said.
The fire was put out at around 9:33 a.m. The vessel was later towed by MV Triple Kent to the shoreline of Baluti Island in Barangay Cawayan, also in Real town.
The fire started at the engine room but investigators are still determining what caused the blaze, said Balilo.
Responding PCG and civilian vessels retrieved the bodies of five female and two male passengers.
The fatalities were Viola Impreso, 47; Marivic Samareta, 61; Edna Balanac, 64; Mina Enciso, 57; Charito Escareces, 57; Crisanto Debelles, 51, and Andy Tejares, 54.
The responders also rescued 127 passengers and crew members. Of the rescued, 24 were injured, including the vessel’s captain, John Lerry Escareces.
Brunette Azagra, captain of passenger vessel MV Au Calucin, said MV Mercraft 2 was trying to overtake his vessel.
“It was overtaking us on our starboard side, on our right side, about 500 meters away when I saw it on fire,” said Azagra. “The fire then got bigger and I later saw passengers jumping into the sea.”
Like MV Mercraft 2, MV Au Calucin came from Polilio Island and was also en route to the Real pier. But MV Mercraft 2 was faster and can reach the port of Real from Polio Island in less than two hours as it was lighter while the larger MV Au Calucin will take about two-and-a-half hours to complete the trip, Azagra said.
Azagra said his vessel promptly extended assistance, along with a roll-on, roll-out (roro) vessel that was en route to Polilio Island. Personnel from his vessel were able to rescue about 40 individuals and retrieved two fatalities, he said.
“They were lucky we were near when the tragedy took place,” said Azagra of the people they rescued.
PCG information officer Joy Gumatay said the captain of MV Mercraft 2 is undergoing treatment at the Claro M. Recto Hospital in Infanta town, also in Quezon.
Gumatay also said a team of investigators will look into the incident.
“Allegedly, the fire started at the engine roam, that’s the only information we got,” said Gumatay. “We have yet to establish what caused the fire.”
