Philippines Lives Destroyed - Human Rights Watch

THE VICTIMS
SUPERFERRY BOMBING,
FEBRUARY 27, 2004
116 killed
At around half past midnight on
February 27, 2004, just off El Fraile
island, outside of Manila harbor, a
bomb detonated on the Superferry 14,
a passenger ferry bound from Manila
to the southern Philippines. The blast
and a subsequent fire killed at least
116 people, including six children less
than five years old, and nine children
between six and 16 years of age.
At least 12 families lost multiple
members, and at least 10 married
couples died together.
The Superferry 14 was severely damaged by the bombing and subsequent
fire, and at least 116 people were killed. © 2004 Reuters/Romeo Ranoco
In one case, three generations in a family died
together, ranging from a 76-year-old grandfather to
his three-year-old granddaughter.
Six of the children killed in the blast were students on
a championship team sent by schools in northern
Mindanao to compete in a journalism contest in
Manila. They included Jessa Aventurado, age 12,
Marion Baclayon, age 12, Alex Briones, age 12, Riza
Blanca Ompoc, age 12, Clynn Paculba, age 16, and
Montague Talasan, age 16.
Two of the students’ teachers also were killed: Nancy
Mabalos and Judy Baclayon, the mother of the
student Marion Baclayon.
Lucille Tesoro, a school official who accompanied the
students and survived the bombing, told Human
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Lives Destroyed