Manila :The death toll from the collision of two vessels off Cebu Friday night rose to 31 as of 2 p.m. Saturday, even as search and rescue operations for 172 missing people continued.
As of 2 p.m., a report on dzBB radio cited information from Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III indicating the number of fatalities had risen to 31. Some 172 passengers are still missing, the report added.
The collision involved the passenger ship MV Saint Thomas Aquinas 1 and the cargo vessel MV Sulpicio Express 7. The 40-year-old ferry, St Thomas of Aquinas, is allowed to carry up to 904 passengers. It sank minutes after colliding with the cargo vessel about a kilometer off Cebu at around 9:00 p.m. on Friday.
Meanwhile, the dzBB report said the Coast Guard was forced to suspend search and rescue operations due to bad weather conditions.
As of 2 p.m., a report on dzBB radio cited information from Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III indicating the number of fatalities had risen to 31. Some 172 passengers are still missing, the report added.
The collision involved the passenger ship MV Saint Thomas Aquinas 1 and the cargo vessel MV Sulpicio Express 7. The 40-year-old ferry, St Thomas of Aquinas, is allowed to carry up to 904 passengers. It sank minutes after colliding with the cargo vessel about a kilometer off Cebu at around 9:00 p.m. on Friday.
Meanwhile, the dzBB report said the Coast Guard was forced to suspend search and rescue operations due to bad weather conditions.
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Survivors of the collision between two ships near the Cebu
International Port in waters off the towns of Talisay and Cordova are attended
to be personnel of the Philippine Red Cross
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Search teams had to contend with big waves and heavy rain in the afternoon.
A team of technical divers had been scheduled to fly to Cebu in the afternoon to help in the search operations.
A team of technical divers had been scheduled to fly to Cebu in the afternoon to help in the search operations.
The 40-year-old ferry, St Thomas of Aquinas, is allowed to carry up to 904 passengers. It sank minutes after colliding with the cargo vessel about a kilometer off Cebu at around 9:00 p.m. on Friday.
The Thomas Aquinas ferry was carrying 870 people when it quickly went under following the collision near the port of Cebu, the Philippines' second biggest city, at 9:00 p.m. on Friday.
In a post on its Twitter account, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said as of 9:10 a.m., 26 bodies were recovered while 215 are still missing.
The PCG headquarters in Manila said at 8:40 a.m. on Saturday that 629 people had been rescued, 57 more than a few hours earlier.
Philippine Coast Guard vice commandant for operations Rear Admiral Luis Tuason Jr. said the missing included two out of four sea marshals.
In an interview on dzBB radio, Tuason said the missing sea marshals include one from the Philippine National Police and one from the Philippine Navy.
The sea marshals are composite teams from the Navy, Coast Guard and PNP posted to passenger ships to secure those on board from terror attacks.
However, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said the crew of the Sulpicio cargo vessel are safe and accounted for.
In a Reuters news agency report, Tuason said there were 870 crew and passengers on board the ferry, above the 692 on the ship's manifest. The ferry had requested a change in its approach to port minutes before the accident, he said, but it was unclear if the cargo vessel had agreed.
The captains of the two ships were alive but had yet to be questioned, Tuason said.
Sank within minutes
"It happened fast, we felt that the cargo ship hit us and minutes later we noticed our ship was listing," passenger Aldrin Raman told reporters. "I grabbed a life vest and jumped overboard. I saw many passengers doing the same."
One of the crew said the ferry sank within 10 minutes of the collision.
"The collision left a gaping hole in the ferry and water started rushing in, so the captain ordered abandon ship," the crew member told the radio station. Most of the passengers were already wearing life jackets before the ship sank, he said.
Another passenger, Jerwin Agudong, said several people had been trapped. "It seems some were not able to get out. We saw dead bodies on the side," he said.
2GO Group statement
In a statement posted on its website on Saturday, the owner of M/V St. Thomas Aquinas said that immediately after the collision, crew members of the vessel “distributed life jackets to the passengers and carried out abandon-ship procedures” while sending a distress signal to the nearest Philippine Coast Guard Station.
Also it said it has dispatched tow of its fast crafts and passenger ship M/V St. John Pail to help with the ongoing rescue operations. It has also activated its emergency on-site operations center to provide assistance to survivors and coordinate with other efforts to attend to their concerns.
Food, dry clothes, and medical attention have been given to those in need, while those with more serious injuries were rushed to nearby hospitals. Those with no injuries have been offered accommodations at a nearby hotel.
Maritime disasters
Inquiry board on Cebu tragedy
The PCG is preparing a Special Board of Marine Inquiry to look into the cause of a deadly collision between a passenger vessel and a cargo ship off Cebu Friday night.
However, Coast Guard spokesman Cmdr. Armand Balilo said the inquiry may have to take a back seat for now to ongoing search and rescue operations.
"Hintayin muna magkaroon ng linaw ang search and rescue operations at ma-account lahat, tapos lilipat tayo sa investigation," Balilo said in an interview on government-run dzRB radio.
Do not speculate
For its part, Malacañang asked the public not to speculate at this time on the cause of Friday night’s tragic collision.
Do not speculate
For its part, Malacañang asked the public not to speculate at this time on the cause of Friday night’s tragic collision.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Palace will leave it to the proper authorities to complete their investigation.
“At this point hindi pa kami magbibhigay ng kumento. Mas mabuti hintayin ang resulta ng investigation. Ayaw natin maakusahan may kulay ang komento,” she said on government-run dzRB radio.
"Mas mabuti hintayin ang resulta ng investigation," she added.
When asked if heads will roll, she said, “mag-shift yan since it is a maritime accident. That has to be determined kung sino ang at fault.”
In the meantime, she said the government is ready to provide assistance to the victims of the tragedy.
2GO Group statement
In a statement posted on its website on Saturday, the owner of M/V St. Thomas Aquinas said that immediately after the collision, crew members of the vessel “distributed life jackets to the passengers and carried out abandon-ship procedures” while sending a distress signal to the nearest Philippine Coast Guard Station.
Also it said it has dispatched tow of its fast crafts and passenger ship M/V St. John Pail to help with the ongoing rescue operations. It has also activated its emergency on-site operations center to provide assistance to survivors and coordinate with other efforts to attend to their concerns.
Food, dry clothes, and medical attention have been given to those in need, while those with more serious injuries were rushed to nearby hospitals. Those with no injuries have been offered accommodations at a nearby hotel.
Maritime disasters
Reuters news agency on Saturday reported that many people die each year in ferry accidents in the country, an archipelago of 7,100 islands, which has a notoriously poor record for maritime safety.
Overcrowding is common, and many of the vessels are in bad condition. The country is also hit by several typhoons each year. The weather was clear during the accident, officials said.
Tuason said divers were preparing to search the ferry's interior. The coast guard was checking if dozens of fishing boats which helped in the search and rescue operation had taken survivors to shore without reporting back to authorities.
The Philippines was the site of the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster in December 1987. A ferry, the Dona Paz, sank after colliding with a tanker in the Sibuyan Sea, killing 4,375 on the ferry and 11 of the tanker's 13-man crew.
