Coastguards were this evening battling flames on a burning ferry after passengers leapt into the sea to escape the inferno in the Philippines.

Flames rippled through the vessel off the coast of Batangas province in the south of Luzon island shortly before sunset. The boat was carrying dozens of locals between islands in the archipelago.

Officials said that so far, 39 people were rescued from the sea and one was taken to hospital. A PCG spokesman said the person rushed to the hospital was a 44-year-old woman.

There were believed to have been 48 passengers and 34 crew on the ferry - a total of 82 people. The number of casualties or injured is not known.

The Starlite Ferries vessel had reportedly travelled from Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro and was docking at the Batangas port in Batangas when it caught on fire.

Batangas Port Manager Joselito Sinocruz said there were 48 passengers and 33 crew members on board, with some of them jumping overboard after the fire erupted. He added the Philippine Coast Guard, port police and civilians are at the scene to battle the inferno and rescue those in the sea.

He said: 'As of 6:20 pm local time, the fire is still large and ongoing on the Starlight Asia Pacific ship. We saw it burning around 5:30 pm.'