BOAT WITH 173 ON BOARD CAPSIZES IN PHILIPPINE WATERS, 33 FEARED DEAD
MANILA, Philippines - A ferry with 173 people on board overturned in rough
waters in the central Philippines on Thursday as rescuers rushed to the scene,
the coast guard said.
At least 33 people were dead, a disaster monitoring official
said.
The Kim Nirvana was heading from the central city of Ormoc
to the island of Camotes when it capsized, the coast guard office in Manila
said.
Search and rescue operations were ongoing and it was unclear
if there were any fatalities or anyone rescued so far, the coast guard office
said.
At least seven rescue boats picked up dozens of survivors
who clung to the overturned hull of the Kim Nirvana, 1km from Ormoc port,
Ciriaco Tolibao from the city’s disaster risk reduction and management office
told AFP.
At least seven rescue boats picked up dozens of survivors
who clung to the overturned hull of the Kim Nirvana, 1km from Ormoc port,
Ciriaco Tolibao from the city’s disaster risk reduction and management office
told AFP.
The boat capsized in the waters off Ormoc City in the
Philippine island of Leyte past noon on Thursday, just a few minutes after
leaving the port there.
Divers were scouring the murky waters searching for
survivors from the inside of the ship, he said.
The coast guard confirmed that it was engaged in search and
rescue activities but could give no further details of the operation.
Poorly maintained, loosely-regulated ferries are the
backbone of maritime travel in the sprawling archipelago.
But this has led to frequent accidents that have claimed
hundreds of lives in recent years.
- This include the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster in 1987 when the Dona Paz ferry collided with an oil tanker, leaving more than 4,300 dead.
Source: – AFP
200 MISSING, 24 DEAD IN PHILIPPINE FERRY DISASTER
CEBU, Philippines - The St Thomas Aquinas ferry was carrying 870 passengers and crew when
it collided with a cargo ship yesterday night in calm waters near the
port of Cebu, The Philippines' second biggest city, authorities said.
While 629 people had been rescued by early today morning, 217 were
still unaccounted for and 24 bodies had been retrieved, according to the
coastguard's headquarters in Manila.
coastguard's headquarters in Manila.
One survivor, Maribel Manalo, 23, recounted to her brother the horror
of suddenly being plunged into the cold water in darkness, and emerging
from the chaos without her mother.
"She said there was a banging noise then the boat suddenly started sinking," the brother, Arvin Manalo, told AFP.
"They quickly strapped on life jackets and then jumped into the dark
sea. She said they felt like they were pulled under. My sister said she
pushed our mother up, but they got separated.
"My sister was rescued. My sister knows how to swim, but my mother does not."
He said their mother, 56, remained missing.
The accident occurred at 9:00pm (Malaysian time) 
in the mouth of a
narrow strait leading into the port between two and three kilometres
from shore, authorities said.
in the mouth of a
narrow strait leading into the port between two and three kilometres
from shore, authorities said.
Fifty-eight babies were among the passengers on board the ferry,
according to the coastguard, and it was unclear how many of them
survived.
Rear Admiral Luis Tuason, vice commandant of The Philippine coastguard,
told DZMM radio just after sunrise there were hopes that some of the
missing had been picked up by fishermen who had joined in the rescue
effort, or were still at sea.
But Tuason said he expected the death toll would climb substantially.
Source: The Malaysia Insider...More...
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