By Noreen Jazul and Calvin Cordova  Three persons were confirmed dead while over 200 passengers have been rescued after a passenger-cargo vessel caught fire while sailing for Dapitan City Wednesday morning. Dr. Rolito Cataluña, City Health Officer of Dapitan City, identified the fatalities as Chloe Labisig believed to be between one and four years old and Danilo Gomez, who was said to be in his late 50s; and Ronaldo Heneral, 65. Labisig and Gomez were unconscious when found by rescuers but they were eventually declared dead. Heneral, on the other hand, was found around noon. “They were rushed to a hospital. They died not because they drowned or due to burn injuries. Probably they got suffocated by the life jackets that they wore improperly,” said Lt. Junior Grade Cherry Rose Manaay, commander of Coast Guard-Dapitan. MV Lite Ferry 16 was five nautical miles away from Pulauan Port, Dapitan City when it was engulfed by fire and had 137 passengers—109 adults, 24 children, and four infants. The vessel also had 28 rolling cargoes. The vessel, which was skippered by Desiderio Labiste Jr., had 19 crew and officers and 19 cadets. It was carrying more than 245 passengers but only 137 passengers were listed in the manifesto, according to the Philippine Coast Guard. According to Apple Marie Agolong, tourism officer of Dapitan, at least 24 passengers were still missing based on the data of the City Risk Reduction Management Office. The Lite Shipping Lines-owned vessel left Samboan Wharf in Samboan town, southern Cebu at 6 p.m. last Tuesday. It was supposed to arrive in Barangay Pulauan, Dapitan at 1 a.m. Manaay said it was at around 12:30 a.m. when they received a call from the shipping lines that the vessel was on fire. The Philippine Coast Guard said the fire started at the engine room of the ferry. Some passengers took to Facebook lamenting that Coast Guard personnel had yet to respond even after four hours after the vessel caught fire. Manaay, however, insisted they responded right away. “We are 4.2 nautical miles from the distressed vessel. What we did was we immediately sought help from another vessel which is the Fastcat. They were the first responder in the area. We called up the boat (Fastcat) and asked them to conduct rescue operations. At the same time, our boat that was docked in Pulauan Port was dispatched right away as well as our cargo vessel and motor bancas,” Manaay said. A total of 245 individuals were rescued as of noon Wednesday, Captain Armand Balilo, Coast Guard Spokesperson, said.  (With report from Betheena Unite)