Boat caught fire in Philippines, 31 killed: 250 people were on board, jumped into the sea to save their lives

A fire broke out in a ferry i.e. passenger boat in the Philippines on Thursday night. 31 people died in this accident. Officials said that there were 250 people on board the ferry named MV Lady Mary. People jumped into the sea to save their lives. 200 people have been rescued.
This incident happened on Basilan Island. Governor Jim Hataman told that people jumped into the Black Sea to save their lives after the ferry caught fire. They were rescued with the help of the Navy, Coastguard, and fishermen. The bodies of 18 passengers were found in the passenger cabin of the boat. 7 people are missing. A rescue operation is being conducted on Friday to find them.
The Coast Guard said that the boat was brought to shore as soon as possible after the fire broke out. Due to this many lives were saved. Governor Hataman said that the boat was going from Zamboanga to Jolo. On reaching Basilan it caught fire at 12 midnight. It could seat 450 passengers. It was not crowded during the journey.
Boat accidents are frequent in the Philippines due to frequent storms, poor maintenance of boats, overcrowding and non-observance of safety regulations. Such accidents are common in remote areas. One such incident happened in December 1987. During this, a passenger boat collided with the Dona Paz fuel tanker and sank into the sea. 4300 people lost their lives in this accident.