AP
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Rescuers have rescued at least 215 passengers and recovered seven bodies after a ferry carrying more than 350 people sank shortly after midnight in the southern Philippines, authorities said Monday.
According to coast guard officials, the inter-island cargo and passenger ferry M/V Trisha Kerstin 3, carrying 332 passengers and 27 crew members, was sailing from the port city of Zamboanga to Jolo Island in southern Sulu province when it apparently encountered a technical problem and sank. Officials also provided figures on passengers rescued and bodies recovered.
Mujib Hataman, governor of Basilan province, near where the ferry capsized, told The Associated Press that the bodies of the passengers and two others were taken to the provincial capital, Isabela.
“We are accepting 37 people here at the pier. Unfortunately, two people have died,” Hataman said from Isabela Pier.
Search and rescue operations by the Philippine Coast Guard, navy, and fishing fleet were underway off the coast of Basilan province in fine weather.
Maritime accidents are common in the Philippine Islands due to frequent storms, poorly maintained vessels, overcrowding, and irregular enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.
In December 1987, the ferry Donna Pass collided with a fuel tanker and sank in the central Philippines, killing more than 4,300 people in the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster.
