Six fishermen died while 6 others were injured after one of the engines of their boat exploded as they were sailing through the waters of Naga City, Cebu on Wednesday, June 5. | CDN Photo/ Paul Lauro
CEBU CITY, Philippines — An engine failure has been tagged as the cause of the explosion that started the fire of the fishing boat where 6 crew members died and 6 others got injured.
The accident happened off the sea of the city of Naga in southern Cebu at past 8 p.m. on June 5.
The fishing banca (FBCA) named King Bryan suddenly caught fire while crew members were attempting to make repairs.
Ensign Abel Lomboy, information officer of PCG in Central Visayas, told reporters on Thursday, June 6, that the fire started when the engine of the boat exploded.
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However, he opted not to disclose more information on what caused the engine of the boat to suddenly explode on Wednesday as the investigation was still ongoing.
Miguel Cortes, one of the surviving crew members, told CDN Digital that the engine began making loud noises which prompted some personnel to look into it at the time of the incident.
The captain of the boat, Mark Sullano, also told reporters that they noticed an irregularity with one of the boat’s engines as they arrived in Naga City at around 11:00 a.m. As they were fixing it, however, the engine exploded and caused the boat to catch fire.
According to the captain, they have been sailing since Sunday, June 2 from Gilotongan, Cawayanan, Masbate Island to catch fish in the seas of Cebu.
He also said that aside from gasoline, they were not carrying any explosives on the boat.
Two of the crew members were reportedly relatives of the captain.
According to PO1 Joel Baring, the fishing vessel was on its way to the southern part of Cebu when they encountered the problem. Instead of seeking help, however, the crew reportedly continued sailing while running with only one engine.
Authorities received a report about the burning boat at around 8:40 p.m. after it was spotted by a passing airplane. During this time, a tug boat was sailing nearby and immediately responded to the scene.
Upon the arrival of coast guard personnel, they rescued a total of 6 personnel and initially recovered two bodies of dead men. At 9:40 p.m., authorities declared fire out.
Baring said that they had to temporarily pause the search and rescue operations for the missing crew members at past 10:00 p.m. due to the strong winds and waves. At 1:00 a.m., retrieval operations resumed.
According to Lomboy, they found two bodies of two men floating around the incident area at around 12:00 a.m.
At around 2:30 a.m., divers found two more lifeless crew members trapped under the debris of the boat underwater.
However, the bodies were successfully recovered at 8:00 a.m. because of the bad weather and the depth of their location.
Upon verification, it was found that there were 12 personnel on the fishing boat instead of the 11 persons initially disclosed by the captain.
Lomboy said that 5 of the rescued crew members, including the captain, suffered minor injuries during the incident. Meanwhile, one of the crewmen, Alvin Quinoñes, suffered third-degree burns and a fracture in his leg.
As of this writing, he is in a critical condition and is being treated at a hospital in Naga City.
Here is a full list of the 12 crew members onboard the FBCA King Bryan:
List of survivors:
1. Mark Anthony Sullano, 32, (Captain)
2. John Cloud Canones, 20, from Balud, Masbate
3. Alan Aviles, 18, from Balud, Masbate
4. Michael Bacas, 34
5. Miguel Cortes, 32, from Cauyan, Masbate
6. Alvin Quinoñes, 21, from Masbate (Injured)
List of deceased:
1. Boy Boy Bacolod, 29
2. Ariel Codilla, 37
3. Jonathan Sullano, 34
4. Onjing Conel, 41
5. Dominic Cleret, 18
6. Joseph Sullano, 29
Following the deadly fire accident, authorities are conducting a deeper investigation and checking the documents of the fishing boat involved.
Baring said that they were waiting for a copy of the documents from the boat owner as the crew’s copy allegedly got destroyed in the fire.
He further stated that the boat was not overloaded at the time as it had enough space for the 12 personnel.
In addition to this, authorities will be looking into whether an oil spill occurred in the area due to the incident.
In order to avoid incidents like this, Lomboy advised fishing crews not to miss preventive maintenance schedules of their boat engines and to always check the condition of the vessel before setting sail.