MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Rescuers have rescued at least 215 passengers and recovered seven bodies after a ferry carrying more than 350 people sank just after midnight in the southern Philippines, officials said Monday.
The M/V Trisha Kerstin 3, an interisland cargo and passenger ferry carrying 332 passengers and 27 crew members, apparently encountered technical problems and sank while sailing from the port city of Zamboanga to Jolo Island in southern Sulu province, coast guard officials said. Officials also provided data on passengers rescued and bodies recovered.
Mujiv Hataman, governor of Basilan province near where the ferry capsized, told The Associated Press that the passengers and two bodies had been taken to the provincial capital Isabela.
“I received 37 people at the pier. Unfortunately, two people died,” Hataman said at the Isabela pier.
The Philippine Coast Guard and Navy, as well as fishing fleets, conducted search and rescue operations in good weather near Basilan province.
Marine accidents are common in the Philippine Islands due to frequent storms, poor vessel maintenance, overcrowding, and poor enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.
In December 1987, the ferry Donabas sank after colliding with an oil tanker in the central Philippines, killing more than 4,300 people and making it the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster.