Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200806/20080623/article_364225.htm
38 ferry survivors reach shore, hundreds still missing
Created: 2008-6-23 11:26:20
THIRTY-EIGHT survivors from a capsized ferry made it to shore but hundreds more were feared dead after a powerful typhoon cut a violent path through the Philippines, triggering desperate rescue efforts today.
The death toll from floods across the country rose to 163, police said.
Most of the 747 passengers and crew of the ferry that capsized in stormy seas on Saturday were still missing, police added.
The 23,824-ton Princess of Stars was traveling from Manila to Cebu when it ran aground a few kilometers off central Sibuyan island then capsized, said Mayor Nanette Tansingco of Sibuyan's San Fernando.
Coast guard frogmen who managed to get to the stricken ship got no response when they rapped on the hull with metal instruments late yesterday, then had to give up for the night due to strong waves. They hoped to get inside today, possibly with US assistance requested by the Philippine Red Cross.
There were no details on what kind of assistance was being discussed.
Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo, the coast guard commander, said rescuers may have to bore a hole on the ship to allow access for divers.
Tamayo said 28 more survivors were found in Mulanay township in eastern Quezon province late yesterday – about 130 kilometers from Sibuyan. Ten others struggled to shore earlier.
Manila's DZBB radio said the 28 people, including four crewmen and three women, drifted at sea for more than 24 hours wearing life jackets.
Officials were checking reports that a large number of survivors might have reached one nearby island, coast guard spokesman Cmdr. Antonio Cuasito said.
Survivor Reynato Lanoria, a janitor on the ship, estimated about 100 people could have escaped the vessel, but thought the others were trapped inside. Lanoria said he was on the top deck when a crew member ordered people to put on life vests around 11:30 a.m. Saturday. About 30 minutes later, the ship began tilting so fast that elderly people and children fell on the slippery deck.
After the storm stymied earlier attempts to reach the ship and kept aircraft at bay, a rescue vessel battled huge waves and strong winds to approach Sunday, more than 24 hours after the ferry lost radio contact.
"They're scouring the area. They're studying the direction of the waves to determine where survivors may have drifted," coast guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo said.
The typhoon lashed the central Philippines early Saturday, setting off landslides and floods, knocking out power and blowing off roofs.
In the province of Iloilo, Gov. Neil Tupaz said 59 people drowned, with another 40 missing. "Almost all the towns are covered by water. It's like an ocean," Tupaz said.
Overall, hundreds were listed missing.
Packing sustained winds of 74 miles (120 kilometers) per hour and gusts of up to 93 mph (150 kph), the typhoon shifted course Sunday to the northwest and battered Manila at dawn, dumping heavy rain on the capital. Major streets were flooded, and numerous traffic lights were out.
Anthony Golez, deputy chief of the Office of Civil Defense, said the storm took an erratic path and never slowed down when it hit land with huge deluges of rain.
The typhoon-prone Philippines was the scene of the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster when the ferry Dona Paz sank in 1987, killing more than 4,341 people.
The death toll from floods across the country rose to 163, police said.
Most of the 747 passengers and crew of the ferry that capsized in stormy seas on Saturday were still missing, police added.
The 23,824-ton Princess of Stars was traveling from Manila to Cebu when it ran aground a few kilometers off central Sibuyan island then capsized, said Mayor Nanette Tansingco of Sibuyan's San Fernando.
Coast guard frogmen who managed to get to the stricken ship got no response when they rapped on the hull with metal instruments late yesterday, then had to give up for the night due to strong waves. They hoped to get inside today, possibly with US assistance requested by the Philippine Red Cross.
There were no details on what kind of assistance was being discussed.
Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo, the coast guard commander, said rescuers may have to bore a hole on the ship to allow access for divers.
Tamayo said 28 more survivors were found in Mulanay township in eastern Quezon province late yesterday – about 130 kilometers from Sibuyan. Ten others struggled to shore earlier.
Manila's DZBB radio said the 28 people, including four crewmen and three women, drifted at sea for more than 24 hours wearing life jackets.
Officials were checking reports that a large number of survivors might have reached one nearby island, coast guard spokesman Cmdr. Antonio Cuasito said.
Survivor Reynato Lanoria, a janitor on the ship, estimated about 100 people could have escaped the vessel, but thought the others were trapped inside. Lanoria said he was on the top deck when a crew member ordered people to put on life vests around 11:30 a.m. Saturday. About 30 minutes later, the ship began tilting so fast that elderly people and children fell on the slippery deck.
After the storm stymied earlier attempts to reach the ship and kept aircraft at bay, a rescue vessel battled huge waves and strong winds to approach Sunday, more than 24 hours after the ferry lost radio contact.
"They're scouring the area. They're studying the direction of the waves to determine where survivors may have drifted," coast guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo said.
The typhoon lashed the central Philippines early Saturday, setting off landslides and floods, knocking out power and blowing off roofs.
In the province of Iloilo, Gov. Neil Tupaz said 59 people drowned, with another 40 missing. "Almost all the towns are covered by water. It's like an ocean," Tupaz said.
Overall, hundreds were listed missing.
Packing sustained winds of 74 miles (120 kilometers) per hour and gusts of up to 93 mph (150 kph), the typhoon shifted course Sunday to the northwest and battered Manila at dawn, dumping heavy rain on the capital. Major streets were flooded, and numerous traffic lights were out.
Anthony Golez, deputy chief of the Office of Civil Defense, said the storm took an erratic path and never slowed down when it hit land with huge deluges of rain.
The typhoon-prone Philippines was the scene of the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster when the ferry Dona Paz sank in 1987, killing more than 4,341 people.
Agencies
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