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Manila[Philippines], June 26 (ANI/Xinhua): A ferry carrying 165 people caught fire and sank in the central Philippines on Sunday, leaving a 53-year-old male passenger dead and one missing, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.
The coast guard said the 157 passengers, including 15 children, and eight crew members, were on the boat Mama Mary-Chloe when the fire broke out around 1:00 p.m. local time in the vicinity waters off Tugas Island and Tilmobo Island in Bohol province. The coast guard said 163 people were rescued, adding that rescuers were searching for the missing passenger. The coast guard said the boat submerged, and it was looking into the cause of the fire. Coast guard footage showed some rescued passengers, including children, in a small port on the southwest coast of Leyte province, approximately 55 nautical miles south of Tacloban City. The boat can accommodate 236 passengers. Last month, the coast guard reported at least two maritime accidents in the Philippines.Ferry accidents are common in the Philippines, an archipelagic country of over 7,000 islands. (ANI/Xinhua)
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