More than 200 people were still missing after the collision and small planes
and helicopters were scouring the waters for survivors.
Divers have begun searching the sunken vessel after an oil slick cleared,
officials said.
Some 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.
"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 number of missing is still huge."
Scores, sometimes hundreds, of people die each year in ferry accidents in the Philippines, an archipelago of 7,100 islands with a notoriously poor record for maritime safety.
Overcrowding is common, and many of the vessels are in bad condition.
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 had yet to be questioned, Tuason said.
Read More : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/10249167/Philippines-ferry-sinks-killing-at-least-28-with-more-than-200-missing.html
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.
"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 number of missing is still huge."
Scores, sometimes hundreds, of people die each year in ferry accidents in the Philippines, an archipelago of 7,100 islands with a notoriously poor record for maritime safety.
Overcrowding is common, and many of the vessels are in bad condition.
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 had yet to be questioned, Tuason said.
Read More : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/10249167/Philippines-ferry-sinks-killing-at-least-28-with-more-than-200-missing.html
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