BACOLOD, Philippines – Disaster responders rescued 23 crew members of a fishing vessel that caught fire off the coast of Basay town in Negros Oriental on Thursday, March 21.

Authorities, however, faced a blank wall regarding the cause of the fire because the fishing vessels crew, including their captain, were uncooperative, according to Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NORPPO) spokesman, Lieutenant Stephen Polinar.

Polinar said investigators could not inspect and gather clues from the ill-fated fishing vessel because it sank after catching fire near Sitio Lintub, Barangay Nagbo-Alao in Basay town.

The vessel, Quadro Alas, was registered under the name of Delfen Calogbang Jr.

He said the survivors were rushed to the Rural Health Unit (RHU) of Basay, where they were all in a state of shock.

Negros Oriental police director Colonel Ronan Claravall said the Basay Municipal Police Office chief, Captain Alfred Vicente Silvosa, was instructed to dig deeper in collaboration with the Philippine National Police-Maritime Command and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in the province.