At least 5 killed in passenger ship fire off Mindoro Island

(Updated 4:52 p.m.) At least five people, one of them a five year-old girl, were killed in a fire that hit passenger ship MV Catalyn-D off Mindoro Island Sunday, radio DZBB reported. Commander Joseph Coyme, spokesman of the Philippine Coast Guard, told dZBB that they received reports at about 8 a.m., Sunday, that MV Catalyn-D, owned by San Nicolas Lines, was on its way to Palawan when tragedy struck. Another dzBB report said two of the fatalities were airlifted to Manila and are now at the Philippine Coast Guard's headquarters along Roxas Boulevard. "Two dead bodies have been brought to the coast guard headquarters," Coyme said. "Most of the passengers have been rescued but we cannot confirm yet if there are still people missing." The ship was en route from Manila to southwestern Palawan province with at least 216 passengers and 21 crewmen on board when the fire broke out, Coyme said, prompting passengers to abandon the ferry. He said several passing ships rescued passengers, and the Coast Guard was still in the process of matching names of people recovered with those on the manifest. So far 128 survivors have been counted, while another passing ship which rescued about a hundred people has not yet submitted its list, Coyme said. Tess Delgado, booking officer of the shop's owner San Nicholas Lines Inc., said aside from passengers, the ship was also loaded with cargo including rice and other commodities. A group of rescued passengers were on their way to Manila, while another group was being ferried to Palawan's Coron town, she added. Other details were not immediately available. - GMANews.TV with a report from AP (First posted at 4:06 p.m.)