A fire at a ferry in the Philippines on Wednesday night left several people dead and injured, while others were missing, the country's disaster management official said.
Agence France-Presse reported that the fire killed 12 people and injured 14 others, while 7 are still missing.
Reuters reported that only 10 people were killed in the incident. But Anadolu Agency later reported that the death toll had risen to 31.
The ferry was en route from Zamboanga on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao to the island of Khulu in Sulu province when the fire inside it broke out on Wednesday evening, prompting passengers to jump out. The circumstances of the fire are not immediately clear.
Rescuers, coastguards and fishermen rescued 195 passengers and 35 crew members when the fire broke out while the ferry was off the island of Baluk-Baluk in Basilan province.
Basilan Governor Jim Saliman said the number of missing people was likely to rise because the number of passengers exceeded the number on the passenger list. "There may be passengers who are not registered on the list."
Images released by the coast guard showed a coast guard boat spraying water on the burning ferry, while its officers on smaller boats rescued passengers from the water in the dark.
The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,<> islands. The country suffers from a poor shipping system, and its phrases are often overloaded and prone to accidents.