KALIBO, Aklan – Five fishermen had been rescued after their motorboat caught fire off Sibuyan Sea.
The 39-year-old boat captain Felipe Abelardo Jr. said he and his crewmen managed to jump into the sea to escape the blaze on Sept. 3.
It took more than one hour after other fishermen spotted and rescued them.
Abelardo – resident of San Jose, Antique who temporarily resides in Sitio Baybay, Barangay New Buswang, Kalibo – sustained first-degree burns on his face, feet and right arm.
Crew member Rodel Jimenez, 24, resident of New Buswang, suffered from light burns.
The three other fishermen, meanwhile, were unhurt.
Abelardo was rushed to the Aklan Cooperative Mission Hospital in Barangay Andagao for treatment.
“Habang umaandar, nahulog ang container ng gasolina sa makina ng bangka dahil sa malaking alon, saka sumabog itong bangka,” said Filman Ebanola, the captain of the boat that rescued Abelardo and his crew.
“Nakita ko sila na nasusunog – mga 3 miles ang layo sa amin. Kasama ko ang sampung tripulante na nag-rescue. Noong malapit na kami sa kanila, lumangoy din sila kahit sugatan palapit sa bangka,” Ebanola added.
The distressed fishermen were ferried back to the shore near Barangay Pook at around 2:45 a.m. on Sept. 4.
Responders from the Kalibo Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office-Aklan Response Team were waiting there. (With Aklan Forum Journal/PN)
