A one-year-old girl and a 60-year-old man were killed when a packed ferry caught fire in the Philippines last night (August 27).<br /><br />The vessel was carrying 137 passengers and 40 crew members when it suffered a blaze in the engine room shortly after it left the Samboan Port in Cebu City at around 6 p.m. <br /><br />Initial reports stated that the fire broke out at around 11:30 pm on board the M/V Lite Ferry 16 as it travelled toward Dapitan City.<br /><br />Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Operations Center reported two fatalities. <br /><br />They named them as one-year-old girl Chloe Labisig and Danilo Gomez, 60, who was believed to be travelling together at the time. <br /><br />Officials said this morning (28/08) that 110 passengers have been rescued while 23 were still missing.<br /><br />The rescued passengers were taken to hospitals in Dapitan and Dipolog City.<br /><br />Lieutenant Junior Grade Cherry Rose Manaay, commander of the Philippine Coast Guard Station-Zamboanga del Norte said they received a distress call from the captain asking for help as his ship caught fire at Tag-ulo point in Dapitan.<br /><br />She said: "We immediately called MV Fast Cat, which had just left the Port of Dapitan to rescue MV Lite Ferry 16. MV Danica Joy was also sent to help in the rescue."<br /><br />Some of the fishermen in the area also joined the rescue operation but were driven back by big waves.<br /><br />The cause of the fire is still unknown.
