DAVAO CITY –— The numder of fatalities in the March 29 MV Lady Mary Joy 3 continues to climb as the search and retrieval operatons continue.
On Easter Sunday at around 1:05 in the afternoon, personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard and PNP Maritime in Basilan fished out another cadaver off Langgas coast, in the Municipality of Maluso, Basilan Province.
The body was identified as that of Arsi Hassan, who was among the missing passengers of ill-fated vessel.
Hassan is the 32nd fatality but the search still continues.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) spokesperson Undersecretary Raffy Alejandro at a televised press briefing on Monday said they are now conducting retrieval and recovery operations for the remaining victims.
Alejandro said “So far, 32 na po ang reported na officially dead doon pero meron pa pong 19 missing na hopefully ma-recover natin doon sa area kung saan nangyari itong insidente,.”
Of the 32 deaths, 16 recovered cadavers have yet to be identified because they were burned, Alejandro said.
The list of passengers as reflected on the manifest provided by the Aleson Shipping Lines do not coincide with the actual number of passengers.
Some passengers are allowed to purchase tickets aboard the vessel.
Investigators earlier said the cause of the fire was faulty electrical wiring.
The ill-fated ship was cruising the Zamboanga Peninsula waters to Jolo, Sulu but the fire broke off while they were sailing Baluk-baluk Ilsand in the waters of Hadji Muhtamad town in Basilan province.
The management of the shipping lines has vowed to extend assistance to the families of the victims.-Editha Z. Caduaya
