http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakin...-the-boat-sank
Survivor: ‘I could hear children wailing as the boat sank’
Hundreds Still Missing!
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 18:06:00 06/22/2008
LEGAZPI CITY -- More than 700 passengers and 169 crew members of the M/V Princess of the Stars of the Sulpicio Lines, which capsized west of Sibuyan island town, were still unaccounted for as of Sunday afternoon and were feared dead, authorities said.
This developed as four injured survivors were found in the remote village of Mabini in San Fernando, Romblon, after four hours of being swept away at sea on a life boat.
San Fernando Mayor Nanette Tansingco identified the survivors as crew member Renato Lamorias of Cebu and passengers Jesus Cica, Oliver Amorin of Olango Island, and Jessie Boot of Siquijor province.
Boot, 30, and two others from a fishing vessel were found earlier in the day.
The two others claimed they were crew members of the fishing vessel "CYC." They were Sonny Pistola, 37, and Arnel Alde, 44.
Lamorias, in a mobile phone interview, said he could not forget the hundreds of unconscious bodies floating at sea and the reverberating cries from the victims.
"There were many children trapped inside the boat. I could hear them wailing before the boat sank," Lamorias said.
He remembered hitting his face on a rock, when he was in the sea.
He said the overturned ferry had totally sunk at around 11:45 a.m. Sunday.
Lamorias, who seemed to be in a state of shock, recounted that strong winds and big waves caused the ferry boat to capsize.
He said the lashing that tucked the cargo was torn, which probably affected the balance of the ship while it was being smashed by strong winds and big waves.
"Ang mga alon halos kasing laki ng bundok (The waves were almost the size of a mountain)," Lamorias said in a shaky voice.
"At around 10 a.m. the ship slowed down and started to dance. I noticed that it was running tilted," he added in Filipino.
Lamorias said when the ship's captain announced "abandon ship," many hysterical passengers jumped off the sinking boat.
He said all 14 lifeboats of the Princess of the Stars were let down but big waves still engulfed some of them.
"We were on a life boat for four hours before we reached Barangay Mabini," Lamorias said in-between coughs.
Tansingco said most of the survivors had contusions all over the body and lacerations in the head.
She added that the survivors would be brought to the health center in Barangay Poblacion for treatment and would be housed in her residence.
However, since roads were impassable, the survivors would have to walk two kilometers and travel 12 kilometers more aboard motorcycles to Poblacion.
Tansingco said she sent a team of policemen at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in Barangay Mabini, around eight kilometers away from where the Princess of the Stars capsized.
She said the team she sent had to walk to the remote village of Mabini since some roads were impassable.
"The team I sent reported that slippers and other objects were scattered in the shoreline of Barangay Mabini," Tansingco said in a mobile phone interview.
She said the overturned ferry had a hole in the center.
Ensign Elmer Sumunod, spokesperson of the Naval Forces Southern Luzon, said the Philippine Navy tried to send its vessel PG 378 stationed in Burias Island in Masbate at 10 a.m. Sunday to help rescue the victims.
PG 378, which could carry up to 50 persons, was the vessel nearest to the area where the Princess of the Stars sank.
"But due to bad weather and big waves, the vessel retreated and arrived back in Burias 1:45 p.m. Once the weather condition becomes favorable, we will send it back to the area," Sumunod said.
Commodore Bert Araojo, NFSL commander, said it was really impossible to reach the tragedy area because the waves were about 10 feet high even as of Sunday afternoon.
A local official of San Fernando, Sibuyan, Romblon, who was interviewed by the Philippine Daily Inquirer at about 12 noon Sunday, confirmed that Princess of the Stars capsized in the western side of the island municipality of Sibuyan.
Councilor Ric Aligno said they found a life vest with the name of the vessel and the owner on it.
Aligno said he saw the vessel with only one-third of it, the front side part where the anchor was tied, visible.
The San Fernando councilor said he was viewing the vessel from Sitio Cabitangahan, Barangay Taklobo, around 1.5 km away from the coastline.
At around 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Sunday, he said he saw two dead women, ages 60 plus and mid-30s.
"There was no one to blame, the weather was fine Saturday until 11 a.m. when the ferry made a last call, saying they were on a full stop in Sibuyan," he said.
This was the first time it happened in Sibuyan, added Aligno, who appealed for help as, he said, he saw oil spill on Sunday morning.
On Saturday night, telecommunication lines such as Globe bogged down with many dead spots.
Local government units are now undertaking clearing operations.
The passenger vessel left the port of Manila at 8 p.m. on Friday and was on its way to Cebu when it sent a distress signal to report "engine trouble" and "listing," chief petty officer Benito Vidal of the Southern Tagalog Coast Guard Station said, quoting reports they received Saturday at 12:55 p.m.
"The national headquarters said there were 626 passengers and 121 crew members aboard the boat," he said.
Other reports, however, placed the number of passengers at 702.
On Sunday, Vidal said they received reports that the boat, sunk "seven nautical miles, north-southwest of Sibuyan Island, Romblon."
Vidal said they had yet to receive reports regarding the current condition of the sunk ferry, or the actual cause of its sinking, although, he said, if the ferry was reported listing, that would usually mean the boat really had a hole that was taking in water.
He said they had yet to establish contact with the deployed rescue boats.
No reports on casualties or sea conditions around Romblon have been received, although Vidal said Batangas sea conditions were calm.
The Coast Guard deployed a boat each from Cebu, Batangas and Manila on the ongoing search and rescue operations for the sunk Sulpicio Lines vessel.
According to the Sulpicio Lines website, the M/V Princess of the Stars is a passenger-cargo vessel, weighing around 23,824 tons and able to accommodate around 1,992 people.
Originally Posted by dark_phoenix
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