马尼拉, 菲律宾Seven people have died after a high-speed Philippine ferry carrying 134 people caught fire on Monday, with seven passengers still missing, the coast guard said.
The MV Mercraft 2 caught fire just before reaching the port of Real in Quezon province, 关于 60 公里 (37 英里) east of the capital Manila.
It had left Polilio Island at 5 上午. local time and made a distress call at 6:30 上午.
Five women and two men had died, 而 120 passengers had been rescued, 与 23 of them treated for injuries, the coast guard said in a statement.
Pictures shared by the coast guard showed people in life vests floating at sea awaiting rescue, while some were taken to safety by a cargo ship in the area.
Fire and thick smoke engulfed the two-floor passenger vessel.
起火原因尚不清楚, but the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 岛屿, has a poor record for maritime safety.
Vessels are often old and overcrowded.
在 1987, 周围 5,000 people died in the world’s worst peacetime shipping disaster, when the overloaded passenger ferry Dona Paz collided with an oil tanker off Mindoro island south of the capital, 马尼拉.
