13 dead, over 100 missing after ferry sinks in Philippines

Manila: At least 13 bodies were recovered and more than 100 people remained missing after an inter-island ferry carrying more than 300 passengers and crew sank early Monday morning in waters off Basilan province in the southern Philippines, authorities said.

The Philippine Coast Guard in Southwestern Mindanao said the ferry was en route to Jolo Island in Sulu province from Zamboanga City when it went down near Balukbaluk Island in Hadji Muhtamad, a municipality in Basilan province, Xinhua news agency reported.

Rescue teams pulled at least 13 bodies from the water as of early Monday, while dozens of survivors were rescued by Coast Guard units, navy vessels, and nearby fishing boats, officials said.

The coast guard said that 244 passengers had been rescued and 13 bodies found.

The cause of the ferry sinking was not immediately clear and there will be an investigation. The coast guard cleared the ferry before it left the Zamboanga port and there was no sign of overloading.

The exact number of survivors was still being verified.

Search and rescue operations were ongoing, with aircraft and sea assets deployed to scour the area amid rough sea conditions.

Authorities said the cause of the sinking was still under investigation.

Sea accidents are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained vessels, overcrowding and spotty enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.

Long ago in December 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the central Philippines, which killed more than 4,300 people in the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster.

IANS