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Basilan ferry fire death toll rises to 31, as more bodies recovered

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The burnt MV Lady Mary Joy 3. Courtesy of PCG" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/03/30/20230330-basilan-ship-fire-4.jpg"/><figcaption>The burnt MV Lady Mary Joy 3. <em>Courtesy of PCG</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — The death toll in the tragic fire that engulfed a passenger ferry off Basilan province on March 29 has risen to 31 following the recovery of more bodies, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Wednesday.</p><p>The previous fatality count <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/04/23/faulty-wiring-seen-as-cause-of-basilan-ferry-fire-pcg">stood at 28</a>, and 3 bodies were recovered in the last few days. </p><p>The PCG has said it retrieved the remains of one missing passenger of MV Lady Mary Joy 3 on Tuesday, April 4, and was identified as Anacleto Ponollero Jr., a resident of Sta. Catalina, Zamboanga City. </p><p>On Wednesday, 2 bodies were recovered, according to the PCG.</p><p>One is a personnel of the Philippine Army and identified as SSgt. Cerbatos. </p><p>The other was one of the travelers on board the ferry and identified as Jack Bungso, a resident of Maimbung town in Sulu.</p><p>As of April 5, Wednesday, 2 more people remained missing, while the total number of survivors was 216.</p><p>The PCG continues its search and rescue or retrieval operations to look for the missing individuals.</p><p>The PCG said that based on the passenger manifest, there were 205 passengers on board, of which 20 were Army personnel.</p><p>The vessel had 35 crew members, 4 PCG personnel, and 5 other Army personnel on board, bringing the total number of affected individuals to 249.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/04/23/faulty-wiring-seen-as-cause-of-basilan-ferry-fire-pcg">Faulty wiring seen as cause of Basilan ferry fire, says PCG</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2572114" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The death toll in the tragic fire that engulfed a passenger ferry off Basilan province last week has risen to 31 following the recovery of more bodies.