NINE HUNDRED passengers were plucked from a sinking ferry off the Philippines yesterday, officials said, but at least five people were killed and rescuers were scouring the waters for 63 more who were still missing.
Rescued passengers were brought ashore by other ships, and the Philippine authorities said they hoped some of the missing had been rescued by fishing vessels and small boats that also came to the stricken ferry’s aid.
“The search and rescue is still continuing, coastguard vessels are still there scouring the area,” Commander Armand Balilo, Coastguard spokesman, told local radio.
The SuperFerry 9 vessel was carrying more than 960 passengers and crew when it set off from General Santos City, on the island of Mindanao, for the city of Iloilo.
It began listing early yesterday morning, prompting authorities to rush rescue vessels to the area, coastguard commander Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo told reporters. The weather was clear but the crew had reported problems with the generator, Adm Tamayo said.
Officials said they would investigate what caused the ferry’s sinking. A report from the government’s disaster co-ordinating council said it may have been caused by a hole in the ferry’s hull.
“We got a report to that effect, but until the Board of Marine Inquiry have been constituted and they finally establish what really happened, we cannot say so,” Glenn Rabonza, head of the disaster agency, said in the report.