Six perished, while six others survived after a fishing vessel exploded in the waters off Naga, Cebu on Wednesday night, June 5.
Interviewed during Damdaming Bayan on Thursday, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Cebu Station Commander Capt. Jerome Lozada said the Coast Guard District Central Visayas (CGDCV) learned of the incident at around 8:00PM.
The CGDCV immediately dispatched response teams to provide necessary assistance to the affected crews.
Lozada said six crew members were immediately rescued, while the other two were found dead.
As of 8:35 a.m., Lozada said they found the four other missing crews, but they were dead, summing up to a total of six casualties, who have burns on their bodies. Three of the survivors sustained injuries.
"Sa initial info natin sa nagpakilalang kapitan, may pagsabog daw po na nangyari. 'Di raw nila matukoy saan nanggaling ang pagsabog. So malamang, noong sumabog, ang impact niya, nagkaroon ng problema at natamaan ang ibang crew," said Lozada.
"Siguro ang iba natamaan, ang iba nakatalon kaya may mga pilay sila. 'Yung isa sa survivor may 3rd degree burns siya, medyo kritikal ang lagay nasa ospital siya ngayon," he added.
Lozada said PCG will investigate and conduct an inquiry with the survivors once they have recovered from the incident.
