Basilan ferry fire: Body part recovered
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Authorities were verifying if a body part found floating in the waters off Basilan belongs to one of the missing passengers of M/V Lady Mary Joy 3 that caught fire on March 29.
The lower extremity of a man was found by a villager in Sitio Kawkan, Barangay Sulutan Matangal in Mohammad Ajul town on Sunday afternoon.
Provincial information officer Richard Falcatan said the severed body part is in an advanced state of decomposition.
Thirty-two passengers were confirmed dead, including 16 whose charred remains were recovered on the vessel.
The Basilan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said the 16 unidentified charred remains may be considered among the 19 passengers who remain missing.
Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan Sr. said the provincial government provided financial assistance to the families of the victims, many of them residents of the province.
The families of those who died in the mishap received P50,000 each while those who were hospitalized got P20,000 each.
The remaining passengers received P5,000 each.
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