Firefighters have entered a charred ferry in Philippine waters after a blaze two nights earlier left five people dead and 84 others missing.
Heat and smoke prevented search and rescue efforts onboard the MV June Aster after fire broke out 4.5 miles off the village of Turda near its destination of Coron in Palawan province on Wednesday.
Images released by the coast guard showed three smaller boats near the ferry, which appeared to have stopped emitting smoke as personnel walked on the outer portion of the ship.
Coast guard communications officer Joy Dianne Gumatay said they had not received updates from the firefighting team about what was found inside, including whether there were additional fatalities.
The ferry was sailing from the capital, Manila, on Wednesday evening to its destination when fire broke out.
Rescuers struggled to get inside the burning, smoking vessel on Thursday to search for passengers who may been trapped. The efforts were halted overnight.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
The coast guard and other vessels have rescued 43 people, some plucked from the dark waters as the ferry burned.
“The fire quickly spread. That’s when I dropped to the ground and my back was burned,” survivor Arnulfo Nokki Villanueva said in a video broadcast by News5, adding that he jumped from a window.
“I wanted to get a life jacket but failed to get one because people were stepping on me. People were in panic.”
The coast guard, other government agencies, private volunteers and fishermen searched the nearby waters and coastal patrols checked for people who may have drifted to shore but no new survivors or fatalities were found.
According to the manifest, 134 people were onboard, 117 of them passengers and 17 crew. The 174ft vessel had a capacity to carry 306 passengers and 27 crew.
Two passengers listed in the manifest reported to authorities that they failed to board, bringing the number of missing to 84, the coast guard said.
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