An official said Saturday that the search and recovery operations on the wreckage of the ill-fated M/V Lady Mary Joy 3 in the waters off Baluk-Baluk Island, Hadji Muhtamad, Basilan, had come to an end.

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the Basilan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office announced that they had completed the search and retrieval operations because no more cadavers were discovered.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported that seven more people were still missing after the M/V Lady Mary Joy caught fire Wednesday night, killing 29 people.

At the time of the incident, the ship was carrying 252 people: 205 passengers, 35 crew members, eight Army soldiers, and four PCG personnel.

Meanwhile, lawyer Hahs Ibrahim, spokesman for Aleson Shipping Lines, which owns the M/V Lady Mary Joy, assured victims' families and survivors that they would be compensated regardless of whether their names were on the ship's manifest or not.

According to Ibrahim, there were only 197 listed passengers, and others may have purchased tickets while already on board.

The families of those who died received preliminary financial assistance of PHP25,000 each.

Those who survived were each given PHP 3,000.

Ibrahim stated that they are now working with the PCG and other agencies to identify those who died in the disaster.