Death toll in Philippine ferry blaze rises to 31, 7 still missing

Update Death toll in Philippine ferry blaze rises to 31, 7 still missing
1 / 4
Philippine Coast Guard respond to the fire incident onboard MV Lady Mary Joy 3 at the waters off Baluk-Baluk Island in Basilan, in the southern Philippines, on March 29, 2023. (PCG handout via Reuters)
Update Death toll in Philippine ferry blaze rises to 31, 7 still missing
2 / 4
Philippine Coast Guard personnel search for survivors from the fire on MV Lady Mary Joy off Basilan, southern Philippines, early March 30, 2023. (AP)
Update Death toll in Philippine ferry blaze rises to 31, 7 still missing
3 / 4
Philippine Coast Guard respond to the fire incident onboard MV Lady Mary Joy 3 at the waters off Baluk-Baluk Island in Basilan, in the southern Philippines, on March 29, 2023. (PCG handout via Reuters)
Update Death toll in Philippine ferry blaze rises to 31, 7 still missing
4 / 4
Survivors rest after being rescued from the still burning MV Lady Mary Joy at Basilan, southern Philippines, on March 30, 2023. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)
Short Url
Updated 31 March 2023

Death toll in Philippine ferry blaze rises to 31, 7 still missing

Death toll in Philippine ferry blaze rises to 31, 7 still missing
  • MV Lady Mary Joy 3 enroute to Jolo island from the southern port city of Zamboanga when it caught fire midway off Basilan close to midnight, says governor
  • 18 of the 31 fatalities were discovered in a budget section of the passenger cabin, says Basilan Gov. Jim Hataman

MANILA: A fire broke out on a ferry in the southern Philippines and raged overnight for eight hours, killing at least 31 of the approximately 250 passengers and crew, officials said Thursday.
Many of the more than 200 people who survived the blaze jumped off the MV Lady Mary Joy 3 and were rescued from the dark sea by the coast guard, navy, a nearby ferry and local fishermen, said Gov. Jim Hataman of the southern island province of Basilan. Rescuers were still searching Thursday for at least seven missing people, he said.
Hataman said the burned ferry was towed to Basilan’s shoreline, where the bodies of 18 of the 31 victims were discovered in a budget section of the passenger cabin.
“These victims perished on board due to the fire,” Hataman said by telephone. He said more people may have been on the ferry who were not listed on its manifest.

The ferry’s skipper, however, told coast guard officials that he tried to run the burning ferry aground on the nearest shore to allow more people to survive or be rescued, regional coast guard commander Rejard Marfe said. The fire raged for about eight hours, he said.
The ferry was traveling to Jolo town in Sulu province from the southern port city of Zamboanga when it caught fire off Basilan close to midnight, Hataman said. At least 23 passengers were injured and taken to hospitals.
“Some of the passengers were roused from their sleep due to the commotion caused by the fire. Some jumped off the ship,” Hataman said.
The steel-hulled ferry could accommodate up to 430 people and was not overcrowded, Marfe said. According to the manifest, it was carrying 205 passengers and a 35-member crew, he said. In addition, it had a security contingent consisting of four coast guard marshals and an unspecified number of soldiers who were not listed on the manifest for their protection, Marfe said.
He said officials are investigating whether the 33-year-old ferry was seaworthy, if there were passengers not listed on the manifest, and whether the crew properly guided passengers to safety.
Sea accidents are common in the Philippines because of frequent storms, badly maintained vessels, overcrowding, and spotty enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.
In December 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker, killing more than 4,300 people in the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster.
 

 


Ukraine’s Zelensky: NATO membership ‘impossible’ until Russia war ends

Ukraine’s Zelensky: NATO membership ‘impossible’ until Russia war ends
Updated 58 min 7 sec ago

Ukraine’s Zelensky: NATO membership ‘impossible’ until Russia war ends

Ukraine’s Zelensky: NATO membership ‘impossible’ until Russia war ends
  • Western governments are wary of any move that might take the alliance closer to war with Russia

KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday he knew it would be “impossible” for Ukraine to join NATO while Russia was waging war on his country.
Zelensky has pressed for Ukrainian membership of the military alliance but allies are divided over how fast that should happen. Western governments are wary of any move that might take the alliance closer to war with Russia.
In a joint briefing in the Ukrainian capital with Estonian President Alar Karis, he said joining the alliance was still the best security guarantee for Kyiv.
“But we are adequate people and understand that we will not pull any NATO country into a war,” Zelensky said. “And that’s why we understand that we won’t be a member of NATO while this war is ongoing. Not because we don’t want to, because it’s impossible.”


Russian shelling kills two in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region — governor

Russian shelling kills two in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region — governor
Updated 02 June 2023

Russian shelling kills two in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region — governor

Russian shelling kills two in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region — governor
  • Yuriy Malashko said on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces had hit a multi-storey residential building in the small village

KYIV: Two people were killed and four others were wounded on Friday in Russian shelling of the village of Komyshevaha in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, the regional governor said.
Yuriy Malashko said on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces had hit a multi-story residential building in the small village close to the front line in southeastern Ukraine.


Kremlin says Ukrainian NATO membership would cause problems for many years

Kremlin says Ukrainian NATO membership would cause problems for many years
Updated 02 June 2023

Kremlin says Ukrainian NATO membership would cause problems for many years

Kremlin says Ukrainian NATO membership would cause problems for many years
  • Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Ukraine's membership in NATO, of course, is one of the main irritants and would be a potential problem for many, many years"
  • "The Russian Federation... will ensure its interests and its security"

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Friday that if Ukraine joined NATO then it would cause problems for many years to come, an issue he said many European Union countries understood though the United States ultimately called the tunes at the military alliance.
President Volodymyr Zelensky pressed his case on Thursday for Ukraine to be part of
the NATO military alliance and urged the alliance to provide security guarantees if membership were not possible for now.
Asked about Ukraine’s aspirations to join the alliance, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We regret to state that this indicates the unpreparedness, the unwillingness and the incapacity of the Kyiv regime to resolve existing problems at the negotiating table.”
“Ukraine’s membership in NATO, of course, is one of the main irritants and would be a potential problem for many, many years,” Peskov said.
“Many EU countries, oddly enough, are well aware of this. But, unfortunately, Washington orders and pays for the tunes in NATO. The EU is simply an obedient instrument in this orchestra.”
NATO leaders agreed at a summit in Bucharest in 2008 that Ukraine and Georgia would one day become members of NATO. So far, however, no concrete steps or timetable has been published that would actually bring Ukraine closer to NATO.
“The Russian Federation... will ensure its interests and its security,” Peskov said. “This excludes the expansion of NATO and its direct approach to our borders.”
The Kremlin has long seen NATO’s expansion into eastern Europe as evidence of Western hostility to Russia and has cited it as a key reason for its decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, unleashing the biggest conflict Europe has seen since the end of World War Two.
NATO, which now numbers 31 member states following Finland’s accession this year, says it is a purely defensive alliance that poses no threat to Russia.


South Africa avoids Vladimir Putin arrest dilemma at BRICS meeting

South Africa avoids Vladimir Putin arrest dilemma at BRICS meeting
Updated 02 June 2023

South Africa avoids Vladimir Putin arrest dilemma at BRICS meeting

South Africa avoids Vladimir Putin arrest dilemma at BRICS meeting
  • Top diplomats from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa meet for talks on the bloc’s ambition to provide an alternative to a western-led global order

CAPE TOWN: South Africa attempted to shift attention away from its stance on the Ukraine conflict on Friday, as it hosted a BRICS meeting overshadowed by questions about a possible visit to the country by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Top diplomats from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met in Cape Town for a second day of talks on the bloc’s ambition to provide an alternative to a western-led global order.
However the question of whether Putin would attend a subsequent gathering of the bloc in August, having been invited before an ICC arrest warrant was issued, has dominated this week’s meeting.
Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court over accusations that Russia unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.
A member of the ICC with strong trade and economic relations with the United States and Europe, South Africa would be expected to arrest him if he sets foot in the country.
The issue has put Pretoria in a tight diplomatic spot, and ministers largely dodged a barrage of questions about Putin during the first day of discussions.
On Friday, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor sought to shift focus away from Putin and the war in Ukraine.
“As countries gathered in this room today... we all represent together a significant majority of the world’s territory, population and economy,” Pandor said.
Representatives of about a dozen other nations, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Kazakhstan, attended in person or virtually, for a “Friends of BRICS” session.
On Thursday, BRICS ministers welcomed what they said was the interest expressed by numerous countries to join the bloc.
“We in this room need to determine a plan of action for our countries and for the world,” Pandor said in opening remarks on Friday.
“We cannot allow a conflict in one part of the world to replace the ambition of eradicating global poverty as the world’s greatest global challenge,” she added, in an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s invasion of its neighbor has sent food and energy prices soaring in much of the world, exacerbating food insecurity in poor countries.
Pandor took a swing at western nations, saying the world has “faltered in cooperation” since rich countries’ “attention and resources” have been “diverted” by the war.
“The plight of the poor is forgotten and the great powers are engaged in world conflict,” she said. “We need to turn this around.”


US seeks ‘just and lasting peace’ for Ukraine, Blinken says

US seeks ‘just and lasting peace’ for Ukraine, Blinken says
Updated 02 June 2023

US seeks ‘just and lasting peace’ for Ukraine, Blinken says

US seeks ‘just and lasting peace’ for Ukraine, Blinken says
  • Washington would also encourage initiatives by other countries to bring about an end to the conflict
  • ‘Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine has been a strategic failure’

HELSINKI/WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday the United States was working with Ukraine and other allies to build consensus around the core elements of a “just and lasting peace” to end the war with Russia.
Washington would also encourage initiatives by other countries to bring about an end to the conflict, as long as they uphold the United Nations Charter and Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.
“We will support efforts – whether by Brazil, China, or any other nation – if they help find a way to a just and lasting peace,” Blinken said in a speech.
Still, Washington would continue to support Ukraine militarily as the prerequisite for meaningful diplomacy is that Kyiv is capable of deterring and defending against any future aggression.
“Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine has been a strategic failure,” Blinken said.
Speaking in Finland, the NATO alliance’s newest member, Blinken said the US would help build a “Ukrainian military of the future.”
That meant “a modern air force, integrated air and missile defense, advanced tanks and armored vehicles, the national capacity to produce ammunition, and the training and support to keep forces and equipment combat ready.”