(Adnkronos) – At least 18 people are dead and 24 are missing after a ferry sank in the southern Philippines with 350 people on board. The coast guard reported that the ferry had issued a distress signal four hours after departing from Zamboanga City port, on the southwestern tip of Mindanao. 317 people have been rescued. The 44-meter-long ferry sank approximately five kilometers east of Baluk-Baluk Island, part of the Basilan province island chain off the Zamboanga Peninsula.
The three-deck vessel sank along the same route where 31 people died in 2023 following a fire on board the ferry Lady Mary Joy 3. Both vessels were owned by the local company Aleson Shipping Lines.
