Missing Count From Coron Ferry Fire Drops to 8 as Search Continues, Coast Guard Says

The number of people still missing from a ferry fire off Coron, Palawan has dropped to eight, ten days after the M/V June Aster caught fire at sea with 128 people aboard, Philippine Coast Guard officials said Friday.

The June Aster left Baseco port in Manila the evening of September 8, bound for Coron. Survivors reported hearing a loud explosion followed by smoke and flames around 6:45 p.m. the next day, with the fire believed to have started in a cargo hold carrying an electric vehicle, motorcycles and a forklift. The blaze has killed 77 people, with 43 confirmed survivors.

Coast Guard spokesperson Cmdre. Noemie Cayabyab said the missing count dropped from 12 to 8 after investigators confirmed that four passengers listed on the ship's manifest never actually boarded. Three had mistakenly booked a ticket for the reverse route, Coron to Manila, rather than the trip the June Aster was making; the fourth had booked a different vessel entirely, one that had already left for Coron on September 5.

The Coast Guard has been conducting aerial searches in waters northeast of Barangay Turda toward southwest of Occidental Mindoro, and crews have pulled 58 drums of oily water mixture from the ship's engine room during dewatering operations. The cause of the fire has not yet been officially determined.