13-year-old girl squeezes, crawls way out of burning ship off Palawan

CALAPAN CITY — A 13-year-old girl survived the fire that broke out in the passenger ship MV John Aster by squeezing through a small opening and finding a door before jumping into the sea as thick black smoke filled the vessel.

The girl, who was traveling with her uncle from Manila, said she initially stayed close to him as the fire and smoke spread through the ship.

“I held on to his shirt at his back,” she recalled, saying she eventually had difficulty breathing because of the thick smoke.

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The girl said she found a small gap through which she was able to squeeze in.

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“Maliit, kasya ako (It was small but i was able to fit) ,” she said.

The girl crawled through the opening and eventually saw a door.

“Nakadapa po ako palabas. Tapos po nakita ko pintuan po, naglabas po ako,” she said.

(I was flat on the floor as I made my way out until I saw a door and jumped out.) 

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The girl said the floor was extremely hot, and her feet suffered burns. 

She hesitated before jumping into the water because of the height, but eventually overcame her fears to save herself.

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The girl said she swam for about three minutes toward a kayak in the water where she found other survivors. The young survivor said she was assisted by the chief engineer. 

She said the kayak took around two hours to reach shore.

The ordeal, however, was made more painful by the disappearance of her uncle, the girl said.

“Hindi ko po nakikita si Tito,” she said.

(I couldn’t see my uncle.) 

Her uncle has yet to be accounted for, according to the family. 

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Aside from 13 passengers classified as missing, 76 have been confirmed to have died while 43 survived. /gsg