A ferry carrying 189 passengers and crew capsized today, minutes as it left a central Philippine port in choppy waters, leaving at least 36 dead and 26 others missing, coast guard officials said.
At least 127 people from the M/B Kim Nirvana were rescued by nearby fishing boats and coast guard personnel or swam to safety off to Ormoc city on Leyte Island.
Coast guard spokesman, Armand Balilo, said the wooden outrigger ferry was leaving Ormoc for the Camotes Islands, about 44 kilometers to the south, when it was lashed by strong waves.
He also said the captain and some of the crew were rescued and kept in custody pending an investigation.
Mary Jane Drake, who was travelling with her mother and her husband, said the ferry was pulling slowly out of the port when it suddenly flipped to the left in strong waves and overturned, trapping her and other passengers. She, her mother and husband swam to safety from underneath the ferry.
“No one was able to jump out because it overturned very swiftly. There was no time to jump,” she said.
Coast guard officials said it wasn’t immediately clear the cause for the accident. “Cloudy weather at the time of the accident did not pose any danger, since it would have forced the coast guard to stop sea voyages,” they said.
