According to the Coast Guard’s preliminary inquiry, the Mercraft 2 was carrying 124 passengers from Polillo Island to Real. The fire started around 5 a.m. The fire aboard the MV Mercraft 2 killed five women and two men, and 24 passengers were injured and treated at the Claro M. Recto Hospital in Infanta, Quezon. The fire is suspected to have begun in the ship’s engine room.

The Coast Guard got a distress signal about a ship blazing around 6:30 a.m. and dispatched a search-and-rescue team to assist. At 9:33 a.m., the fire was put out. The Mercraft 2 was towed to Baluti Island in Real by the MV Triple Kent.

The rescue operations were assisted by two RoRo (roll-on/roll-off vessels) and four motorized pump boats.