Search for 80 missing as 39 die in ferry disaster
Print Edition
Philippine divers hauled bodies out of rough seas yesterday in the grisly aftermath of a ferry disaster that claimed at least 39 lives, as oil leaked from the submerged vessel.
Rescue efforts were focused throughout yesterday on more than 80 people missing and who are believed trapped inside the St Thomas Aquinas ferry that sank on Friday night near the central city of Cebu after colliding with a cargo ship.
More than 800 passengers and crew were aboard the ferry, which sank within 10 minutes of impact.
“It is possible that there are air pockets in its compartments and there might be survivors,” Navy spokesman Lieutenant Commander Gregory Fabic said, adding people could survive for 72 hours in such conditions.
“There is still hope that there might just be survivors there.”
However by nightfall the navy and coastguard divers had not been able to reach the interior of the vessel due to strong currents and choppy waves, and only dead bodies from its outer areas had been recovered.
The official death toll rose to 39, and authorities cautioned that the odds of finding any more survivors were low.
“We are still hopeful, although you have to accept the reality that their chances of survival are very slim,” Neil Sanchez, head of the regional disaster management office in Cebu, said.
Meanwhile leaking oil from the vessel added a new front to the disaster response, spreading for more than 5 kilometers and into coastal villages, fishing grounds and mangroves.
“You can see it coming out of the sunken vessel. It is bunker fuel and it is black,” Cebu coastguard commander Weniel Azcuna said.
At one area about 5 kilometers from the disaster site, mangroves were coated in black oil at low tide, a reporter said.
The ships collided as they were traveling in opposite directions at a choke point near the mouth of Cebu’s port.
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