MANILA — The death toll in the tragic fire that engulfed a passenger ferry off Basilan province on March 29 has risen to 31 following the recovery of more bodies, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Wednesday.

The previous fatality count stood at 28, and 3 bodies were recovered in the last few days.

The PCG has said it retrieved the remains of one missing passenger of MV Lady Mary Joy 3 on Tuesday, April 4, and was identified as Anacleto Ponollero Jr., a resident of Sta. Catalina, Zamboanga City.

On Wednesday, 2 bodies were recovered, according to the PCG.

One is a personnel of the Philippine Army and identified as SSgt. Cerbatos.

The other was one of the travelers on board the ferry and identified as Jack Bungso, a resident of Maimbung town in Sulu.

As of April 5, Wednesday, 2 more people remained missing, while the total number of survivors was 216.

The PCG continues its search and rescue or retrieval operations to look for the missing individuals.

The PCG said that based on the passenger manifest, there were 205 passengers on board, of which 20 were Army personnel.

The vessel had 35 crew members, 4 PCG personnel, and 5 other Army personnel on board, bringing the total number of affected individuals to 249.

• Faulty wiring seen as cause of Basilan ferry fire, says PCG

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