Polillo Island residents Shirley Debelles, her husband Crisanto and their young grandchild were on their way to Real town in Quezon province on board the MV Mercraft 2 on Monday morning when disaster struck. The port of Real was already in sight and the one-and-a-half hour ride to the mainland almost over when flames quickly engulfed the passenger ferry. “I noticed that the blaze started at the back where we were seated, which was near the engine. When we saw the fire, we all ran away, but we got separated from each other,” Shirley told reporters.

Mallari, D. T. Jr., Jaucian, M., & Bautista, J. (2022, May 24). 7 dead as ferry catches fire near Quezon Port. Philippine Daily Inquirer, pp. A1-A2.