'When I first saw that scene, I was moved to tears with some of my men. It was a short journey. Why did so many have to die?”
At least 29 of more than 250 people onboard the M/V Lady Mary Joy 3 were killed in the blaze that raged through the ferry Wednesday night while it was on an overnight trip from the southern port city of Zamboanga to Jolo town in Sulu province.
All 35 crew members survived, including the captain, who issued an abandon-ship order when the fire hit close to midnight, then ran the ferry aground on an island off Basilan province to give remaining passengers a better chance to survive, coast guard officials said. The passengers, including an adult clutching a child by the railing, could have easily jumped into the sea and survived like many others but failed to do so for unclear reasons. Two passengers, apparently siblings who were among the missing, were found holding each other in a bathroom, he said.
The passengers, some of them charred beyond recognition, could have been overcome by the smoke and passed out or could have sustained injuries. Some survivors said they heard a series of firecracker-like blasts during the fire but Salahuddin said all of those details could only be assessed by investigators.
The steel-hulled ferry could accommodate up to 430 people and was not overcrowded, said another coast guard official, Commodore Rejard Marfe.
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