At least five people have been killed and dozens more are missing after a fire on a passenger ferry off the western Philippines.
So far, 43 people have been rescued, coastguard spokeswoman Commodore Noemie Cayabyab said.
The ferry, MV June Aster, was afloat but listing after the fire, which started on Wednesday evening, was put out.
“We are continuing search and rescue operations,” said Ms Cayabyab, with a coastguard ship and high-speed response boats joined by a military vessel and other government boats, private volunteers and fishermen.
The coastguard made a radio broadcast to ships nearby to be on the lookout for passengers of the ferry. It has also co-ordinated with coastal villages in case some passengers drifted to the shore.
Images of the night-time rescue efforts showed coastguard personnel throwing life jackets to survivors as the ferry burned in the background. Passengers were helped into smaller boats taking them to shallow water.
The ferry had sailed from the capital Manila and was near its destination of Coron in the province of Palawan when the fire started at around 6.45pm on Wednesday.
Bad weather and big waves challenged rescuers. The ferry was around four nautical miles off the village of Turda when it sent a distress signal but strong sea currents had dragged it to a distance of 7.68 nautical miles off Turda.
Ms Cayabyab said it was unclear what caused the fire, which one survivor said may have begun in the cargo hold, and the coastguard was co-ordinating with the shipping company and maritime authorities to get more details.
She said 134 people were on board, 117 of them passengers and 17 crew. There was no information about any foreigners on board.
