The acting fire marshal of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Jolo, Sulu and several of his men were on board the M/V Lady Mary Joy 3 when it caught fire on March 29 off the waters of Basilan.

Citing the stories narrated by Acting Fire Marshal Jayson Agiyod, BFP Region 3 PIO chief Senior Inspector Arvin Catipon said the fire was “ignited” at the accommodation room of the passenger ship which was located at the basement.

The M/V Lady Mary Joy 3 caught fire at around 11:30 p.m. on March 29 near the Baluk-Baluk Island, Hadji Muhtamad, Basilan while sailing to Sulu.

He noted that the blaze eventually spread in other sections of the vessel that created panic, horror and shock among the occupants that led Agiyod to provide the much needed assistance in the rescue operation.

The BFP Central spokesperson disclosed that 110 out of the 205 passengers including the ship’s crew members listed in the manifest were rescued, saying that they are still collating information to determine the actual number of survivors.

Catipon bared that there is still an “on-going investigation” before the root cause of the inferno can be determined.

He clarified that the Ministry of Interior and Local Government (MILG) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and the concerned LGUs will provide the benefits of the passengers.

Catipon noted that the BFP will continue to assist in the response activities and will exchange data with the other concerned agencies with regards to the vessel fire incident.

Pertaining to the conduct of earthquake safety drills, Catipon advised the public to coordinate with the local BFP stations or local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Offices to guide them in the presence of the actual responders to prevent untoward incidents.

He lamented that from April 1 to 5 there are 41 fire incidents recorded in the National Region (NCR) but from Jan. 1 to April 5 the nationwide record of fire incidents is 3,379 which is 15.7 percent lower than the previous year’s occurrences of 4,008 in the same period.