Philippines ferry fire: Search continues for dozens missing

Philippine firefighters on Friday managed to enter a smoldering ferry in a search for dozens of people still unaccounted for after the vessel caught fire on Wednesday evening , with rescue work complicated by heavy smoke and extreme heat.

The Philippines Coast Guard said that rescuers recovered 30 bodies from a ferry, raising the death toll from the incident to 35.

Earlier, firefighters reported that five people had died, 43 had been rescued, and more than 80 were missing.

On Friday, Coast Guard spokesperson Commodore ⁠Noemi ⁠Cayabyab said that charred remains had been found in the economy accommodation area, but added that the exact number of those found would need to wait for police forensic investigators to examine the remains for recovery and identification.

"We can't provide exact numbers yet on what we saw today," Cayabyab told AFP news agency.

"We will be providing it once we conduct retrieval and recovery," she added.

The ferry "MV June Aster" had originated in Manila, and was nearing its destination, the tourist hotspot of Coron in the western Philippine province of Palawan, when it caught fire just off the coast.

The Philippine Coast Guard updated the number of missing people from 86 to 84 after confirming that two people originally listed on the manifest had not been on board.