The painstaking process of identifying victims began after 30 bodies recovered on Friday were taken to a port in Coron, where temporary tents were set up for forensic teams to examine and identify the remains.
Responders wearing protective suits were seen carrying black body bags from a coast guard vessel to the tents, while anxious relatives waited nearby for information about their loved ones.
Among those waiting was 37-year-old Anelyn Magbanua, whose husband was travelling back to Coron after visiting their children in Manila when the ferry caught fire near the end of its more than 20-hour journey on Sept 9. The vessel was carrying more than 130 people.
Magbanua said she hoped her husband was not among those who had died and that he might have survived and reached another island.
“It will be very difficult to accept if he’s really gone,” she said, adding that he loved their children deeply.
Firefighters entered the ferry for the first time on Friday after putting out the blaze more than a day after it started. Their access had previously been limited by thick smoke and extreme heat.
The coast guard said burnt remains were found in the vessel’s economy accommodation section.
Images released by the coast guard showed extensive damage inside the ferry, with rows of steel bed frames twisted by the intense heat and covered in ash. Some images appeared to show skeletal remains scattered among the wreckage.
Meanwhile, the maritime industry authority, citing survivors, said two explosions were heard inside the vessel shortly before the fire erupted.
One survivor said a small amount of smoke was initially visible before it turned into a fire that spread rapidly throughout the ferry within seconds.
