Manila, June. 10 (AP): A Philippine passenger ferry with 260 people on board caught fire south of Manila on Sunday, leaving at least five dead, coast guard officials said.

A total of 255 survivors were rescued by two passing fishing boats and a coast guard from the MV Catalyn D, which caught fire off Mindoro island, about 170 kilometers (106 miles) southeast of Manila, said Commander Joseph Coyme, a coast guard spokesman.

A coast guard statement said five bodies also were recovered by the rescue vessels.

The ship was en route from Manila to southwestern Palawan province when the fire broke out, prompting passengers to abandon the ferry, Coyme said.

The ship's manifest listed 216 passengers and 21 crewmen on board, but the coast guard said others apparently had not been included because there were 260 survivors and dead accounted for, with no one listed as missing.

Admiral Damian Carlos, the Philippine coast guard's commander, said seven people were being treated for injuries. He said authorities were still investigating the cause of the fire.

``We saw smoke billowing from the storage room of the ship, then the fire quickly spread to the second floor and then to the rest of the ship so we immediately put on our life jackets and jumped into the water,'' said Rod Terilla, 39, who survived with burn wounds to his back.

He said his 7-year-old son, whom he strapped to his body, was unhurt, but his wife also suffered burns on her face.

The ship was almost entirely gutted, with only its hull floating on the water by the time survivors were ferried away from the site by passing motor boats, Terilla added.

Tess Delgado, booking officer of the ship's owner San Nicholas Lines Inc., said the ship was also loaded with cargo including rice and other commodities.

Ferry accidents are common in the Philippines, where even poorly maintained or overloaded ships are allowed to sail.

Last month, three crewmen were killed and 11 other people were injured when an explosion rocked a passenger ferry with 536 passengers on board. Maritime officials said that blast was due to a mechanical problem caused by a failure of the ship's turbo charger to function.

A fire triggered by a bomb from al-Qaida-linked terrorists on the Superferry 14 killed 116 people in Manila Bay in February 2004.