ZAMBOANGA CITY/MANILA, 1 March 2004 — A man claiming to be a leader of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group yesterday said they were behind an explosion on Super Ferry 14 that sparked a fire and left 184 passengers missing, and possibly dead.
The ship, which was carrying 702 passengers and 159 crew, was on its way to Bacolod in the central Philippines from Manila, when fire broke out in the engine room and quickly spread to the passenger decks as the ship neared Corregidor Island in Manila Bay.
Radio Mindanao Network reported that a man claiming to be Abu Solaiman, a spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf, called the station and claimed that the fire at the Super Ferry 14 was the rebel group’s handiwork.
The radio station did not air the call, but quoted Solaiman as saying that the attack was revenge for alleged violence against Muslims in the southern region of Mindanao. He also warned that more attacks would be launched.
The military immediately dismissed the claims as propaganda.
“The Abu Sayyaf would just like to hitch on the media mileage on the sea mishap,” said Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero. “It is unlikely that the Abu Sayyaf would bomb vessels from Manila because of the tight security being implemented here.”
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo also dismissed the Abu Sayyaf’s claim that it planted a bomb aboard the Superferry 14 that started Friday’s blaze, saying it appeared to be an afterthought by the group to use the accident for propaganda and to spread fear.
“There is nothing in the investigation that proves that this was an act of terrorists,” Arroyo said at coast guard headquarters, where she met with relatives of the missing late yesterday.
She tried to console family members by saying no bodies have turned up in a massive search, which involved coast guard divers who scoured a third of the burned ship.
Only one person has been confirmed dead from the fire. Most of the 897 passengers and crew survived by getting into lifeboats or jumping into the sea. But hopes for more survivors among the 184 listed as unaccounted for dimmed yesterday.
“We can’t explain what’s happening,” said Gina Virtusio, spokeswoman for ferry owner WG&A. “We can’t say the unaccounted are dead because we’re not seeing bodies.”
Divers, who worked their way through the front section of the vessel, also were mystified, although they said the intense heat that crumpled the metal interior would make it extremely difficult to recognize human remains.
“We didn’t even see any bones. Where did the missing go?” one coast guard diver said after returning from inside the ship. “With more than 100 missing, it’s impossible we won’t find anything if there are people inside.”
Other rescuers, however, reported smelling the stench of decomposing bodies as they boarded the gutted luxury ferry.
Commodore Wilfredo Tamayo, a regional coast guard commander, said the teams were able to reach the navigational deck, the promenade area and the upper passenger deck of the boat, but were hampered by tons of debris.
“We are still hopeful that there might be an indication that life has been sustained among those remaining there,” he said. “But there was a report of a smell of some decomposing remains on board, and this is also a target of the operations now.”
Coast guard commandant Vice Admiral Arthur Gosingan said divers also searched the submerged portion of the ship, which tipped on its side as it was towed to shallow waters near Mariveles town in Bataan province, just south of Manila.
“So far, we have not found any bodies in the submerged portion,” he said. “But we will conduct a more thorough search.”
Amid growing anxiety, the Bureau of Fire Protection joined the operations to gather clues on the cause of the blaze. Several teams of investigators converged on the site about 75 kilometers (45 miles) southeast of Manila where the Superferry 14 lay on its side after being towed into shallow waters.
Their work took on a new context after Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sulaiman’s claim that one of their men put a bomb by a bunk, then escaped with the other survivors.
Officials have not speculated on the cause of the fire, but said they could not rule out terrorism even though police sniffer dogs checked the ferry before it left Manila. Still, the government quickly dismissed the claim. “That’s far-fetched,” said Transport Secretary Leandro Mendoza. “I hope anti-government groups would not ride on accidents like this.”
The fire occurred the same day that two alleged Abu Sayyaf members were convicted of kidnapping an American in 2000 and another was arraigned in a separate mass abduction.
RMN program director Benji Alejandro told The Associated Press Sulaiman called him on a satellite phone that the rebel had used in the past. He reminded Alejandro that the Abu Sayyaf had warned as early as October that they would target vessels owned by WG&A.
Alejandro acknowledged he received that rebel warning, asking Muslims not to ride WG&A vessels, and notified a WG&A official.
Sulaiman later made another call to RMN, saying a bomb was placed in a “blue cabin, bedding 51,” Alejandro told The AP.
A seating plan of the ship showed no blue section.
Police intelligence reports have cited the ferries, one of the main forms of travel in the sprawling archipelago, as a potential Abu Sayyaf target. The Abu Sayyaf, on the US list of terrorist groups, is known for kidnappings, murders, bombings and banditry.
