Sunday, June 22, 2008

Philippine ferry sinks, 700 aboard missing

Manny Mogato and Rosemarie Francisco, Reuters
Published: Sunday, June 22, 2008

MANILA -- More than 700 people were missing on Sunday after a Philippine passenger ship capsized in a typhoon that has killed scores and left a trail of destruction across the archipelago.

Only four people are so far known to have survived the ferry disaster and they said many passengers did not make it off the MV Princess of Stars in time.

Crowded life-rafts sank in the cold, storm-tossed seas.

"Many of us jumped, the waves were so huge, and the rains were heavy," a survivor identified only as Jesse told local radio.

"There was just one announcement over the megaphone, about 30 minutes before the ship tilted to its side."

"Immediately after I jumped, the ship tilted, the older people were left on the ship."

A coast guard vessel trawling the waters around the 23,824 gross tonne ferry, which is upside down with only its bow above the waves, was trying to confirm reports some passengers had made it to a small island.

"We are hoping more people will have reached the shoreline," Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo, the head of the coast guard, told Reuters.

Princess of Stars ran aground on Saturday but the coast guard was unable to reach it because of huge swells and bad weather caused by Typhoon Fengshen, which crashed into the central Philippines on Friday.

Four people have been confirmed dead but most of the 620-plus passengers and 121 crew remain missing. Children's slippers and life jackets have washed ashore.

According to the ship's manifest, there were 20 children and 33 infants on board.

At least two other coast guard vessels were en route to help in rescue efforts and Mr. Tamayo said he hoped divers would be able to scour the submerged ship on Monday.

He said there was no sign fuel was leaking from the ferry but said an oil-spill response team would arrive with one of the two coast guard ships before dawn on Monday.

Princess of Stars sank 3 km from Sibuyan island in the centre of the archipelago.

The vessel's owner, Sulpicio Lines, said it had lost contact with the ferry, which was en route to Cebu from Manila, at around 12.30 p.m. on Saturday.

Dozens of relatives, some in tears, crowded into the offices of Sulpicio Lines in the central city of Cebu, looking for information.

"My father was one of the passengers. Right now there is no good news," said Lani Dakay. "My father is 59, I don't even know if he can swim."

Typhoon Fengshen, with maximum gusts of 195 kph, has killed at least 155 people in central and southern Philippines, including 101 in Iloilo province, where floodwaters submerged whole communities.

"Iloilo is like an ocean. This is the worst disaster we have had in our history," Governor Neil Tupaz told local radio.

Tens of thousands of people in the province remain marooned on the roofs of their submerged houses.

In neighbouring Capiz, more than 2,000 houses were destroyed in the provincial capital and officials were struggling to make contact with communities further afield.

"We got hit real bad this time," said Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Philippines' Red Cross.

After battering Manila on Sunday, Fengshen was expected to exit the north of the country by Monday en route to Taiwan, where it could make landfall in the next few days, according to storm tracker website www.tropicalstormrisk.com.

More than 20,000 people were being housed in evacuation centres in the centre and south of the archipelago.

An archipelago of more than 7,000 islands, the Philippines is hit by an average of 20 typhoons a year.

© Thomson Reuters 2008

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