Manila – The death toll from Philippine ferry accident rises to 59 as rescuers find more bodies from a capsized passenger boat, the coast guard said on Saturday.
The ferry was raised out of the water off Ormoc City, 560 kilometres south-east of Manila, said Captain Pedro Tinampay, a regional commander of the coast guard.
Tinampay said 140 people were rescued after the accident happened on Thursday shortly after the boat left port in Ormoc.
[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
“Based on initial investigation, the number of passengers and crew was more than the capacity of the boat and that is a clear violation,’’ he said.
Tinampay said rescuers would continue the search for victims until they were sure no more bodies would be found.
The ferry was on the way to Camotes Island, one hour away, when it was slammed by large waves, causing it to turn on its right side before capsizing.
Sea travel is a key mode of transportation in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands.
The country was the site of the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster when a ferry collided with an oil tanker days before Christmas in 1987, killing more than 4,300 people. (dpa/NAN)
