CEBU, Philippines: A ferry named Thomas Aquinas sank in the central Philippines seas on Friday killing at least 28 people after colliding with a cargo vessel.
630 people had been rescued, many by fishing boats, and 214 were missing, the coast guard said. Many of the survivors were sick from swallowing oil and seawater.
The 40-year-old ferry was approaching Cebu when it collided with the departing cargo ship, the Sulpicio Express 7, at about 9 pm (1300 GMT). It sank in minutes. The incident took place around 2km (1.2 miles) from the shore.
The ferry was sailing into the port at Cebu – the country’s second biggest city.
“Search and rescue operations by the navy and coast guard are continuing with the help of some commercial vessels,” acting coast guard chief Rear Admiral Luis Tuason told local radio.
The owners of the ferry involved in Friday’s accident said it was carrying 723 passengers, 118 crew and 104 20-ft containers. It had an authorized capacity of 1,010 passengers and crew and 160 containers.
The ferry had requested a change in its approach to port minutes before the accident, Tuason said, but it was unclear if the cargo vessel had agreed.
The captains of the two ships were alive but yet to be questioned, Tuason said.
“The collision left a gaping hole in the ferry and water started rushing in, so the captain ordered (us to) abandon ship,” the crew member said. Most of the passengers were already wearing life jackets before the ship sank, he added.
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.
Fishermen on shore said they saw flares.
“It was very dark and we could hear a lot of people shouting, asking for help,” said George Palmero, a 35-year-old fisherman who helped to pull 10 survivors from the water.
Maritime mishaps are common in the Philippines because of poor safety standards, overloading and frequent storms.
Ferries and small boats are the main transportation means in the archipelago of more than 7,100 islands.
A total of 4,375 people died in 1987 when the Dona Paz ferry collided with a tanker and sank. The accident remains world’s worst maritime disaster in peacetime.
The ferry MV Princess of the Stars capsized during a typhoon in 2008 in the central Philippines, leaving about 800 people dead.
