Asia-Pacific
4 bodies recovered after ferry sinking in Philippines
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-27 09:21
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MANILA: At least four bodies were recovered on Sunday from the sea following the sinking of a ferry off San Agapito, Verde Island in Batangas province of the Philippines on Saturday night.
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 Norma Mauhay (L) cries with her daughter Leslie (R) as they wait for news about her son, passenger of a ferry that sunk in central Philippines, at Batangas port, south of Manila December 27, 2009. [Agencies] |
The fatalities were an eight-month old female, a 15 to 18-year-old female, another female aged 18 to 24, and a male aged 30 to 40, said Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross.
The ferry with 88 passengers and crew sank off Batangas province at around 11:30 p.m. local time.
It is reported that many passengers on the ferry had no time to put on life vests when the ship sink. ?
The ferry, Baleno 9, left the Port of Calapan in Oriental Mindoro before at 11:00 p.m. local time and was bound for Batangas City when tragedy struck about 40 minutes later.
It was the second sea accident in the Philippines during the Christmas holiday. A wooden-hull motor ferry sank after ramming into a fishing ship at the mouth of Manila bay on Thursday, leaving 3 dead and 24 others missing.
Sea accident is common in the Philippine archipelago where low- income families largely rely on boats to transport from one island to another.
But bad weather, poor maintenance, lack of safety measures resulted in a series of deadly accidents. In 2008, a giant passenger ship capsized at the height of a typhoon in central Philippines, killing nearly 800 people.
