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Deadly ferry fire off Palawan leaves dozens dead and missing

As of September 2026: Leading public communication on rescue and investigation; confirmed death toll at 76

Recovery teams pulled more remains from the burned MV June Aster on Saturday, raising the death toll to 76. Thirteen people remain missing, and forensic teams in Coron are working to identify the dead.

Updated Sep 12

Notable Quotes

The biggest challenge for us really is to penetrate the ship [as] there is still a visible, thick smoke.

from Deadly ferry fire off Palawan leaves dozens dead and missing · Updated Sep 12

No matter how we try to push through, high temperatures and toxic smoke remain a severe risk to our personnel.

from Deadly ferry fire off Palawan leaves dozens dead and missing · Updated Sep 12