Philippine ferry fire 'lit by cigarette'

Survivors said the fire started in the cargo hold

Official investigators in the Philippines are looking into the possibility that a burning cigarette end started yesterday's fire on a passenger ferry which killed at least 28 people.

Some 244 passengers and crew were rescued but at least 11 others remain unaccounted for.

Coast guard officials said many of those killed drowned when they jumped off the ship.

Investigators are concentrating on a cargo of dried coconut - raw material for vegetable oil - that was stored on the vehicle deck.

One survivor said he saw a man throw a burning cigarette end into the coconut load.

Crew under scrutiny

The BBC's correspondent in Manila, John Mclean, says as well as looking at the cargo and whether it was safely stowed, investigators will be considering the conduct of the crew.

Surviving passengers complained that the crew abandoned them as the fire quickly spread.

Many passengers jumped off without life jackets

Passengers reportedly fought over life jackets, though the ship's owners said enough were on board.

Coast guard officials said their boats were also scouring the seas in the hope of finding missing passengers.

The ferry, the MV Maria Carmella, had set sail from the island of Masbate but was abandoned due to the fire just an hour from its destination of Lucena in Quezon province, about 110km from Manila.

Manila radio station DZMM quoted survivors as saying that the fire began with an explosion in the cargo hold and tore through the ship within 10 minutes.

Passenger Juanito Capareno said he survived by clinging to a length of rope thrown at him.

"We were five holding on to the rope," he said. "Minutes later, all of them (the others) were gone. One of them was a boy."

The company that owns the ship, Montenegro shipping lines, said 243 passengers and 47 crew were on board.

Poor record

It was the latest in a string of marine disasters to hit the Philippines, a nation comprised of about 7,000 islands.

Overcrowding and poor safety standards are often to blame.

In 1987, about 4,000 people died when an oil tanker collided with the ferry Dona Paz near Manila. It was the world's worst peacetime maritime tragedy.

Two years ago, at least 138 people drowned when an overloaded ferry capsized off southern Jolo island.