Philippine ferry sinks; 700-plus passengers missing

[Bluebear]

Source: Reuters

Good heavens.

====

MANILA (Reuters) - A Philippine ferry with more than 700 people on board capsized during a typhoon and most are missing, officials said on Sunday.

Rescuers were trying to reach the scene where the MV Princess of Stars sank near Sibuyan island in the centre of the country but churning waves from Typhoon Fengshen made the crossing hazardous.

"The ship is upside down. We are waiting for rescuers but there are none so far. Our pump boats are all broken," Ricardo Aligno, a town councilor from the coastal village of San Fernando, told local radio.

The coast guard expected one of its ships to arrive in the area by early afternoon. The ferry sank about three kilometers from shore.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080622/ts_nm/philippines_weather_dc


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080622/ts_nm/philippines_weather_dc

[JI7]

1. didn't this happen somewhere not too long ago ?

[Bluebear]

2. I'm sure, these ferries always seem to be involved in catastrophes :(

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. It happens in the phillipines a lot.

[trusty elf]

3. Gawd, how awful!

:(

[harun]

4. My wife is in the Philippines right now, says the storm is so bad no one can

leave the house.

They seem to be getting hit with about 4 times as many typhoons as normal the last few years.

[Nay]

5. Why the hell did a ferry go out in a TYPHOON???? That seems

utterly insane.

[harun]

6. When it left it was a low level warning and it struck quicker than they thought.

[Trajan]

9. Im with you ...

It seems the height of arrogance to test nature in this way ....

It is always better to be late than be dead ....

[applegrove]

7. So dangerous ferries. Sounds like it might have been overloaded.