Passenger vessel sinks after colliding with cargo boat off Talisay City -
CEBU CITY -- A ship that carried more than 700 passengers, including 55 infants, sank off the coast of Talisay City in Cebu after colliding with a cargo vessel Friday evening, killing at least 17 people.
Rescue operations were ongoing as of 3 a.m. Saturday, August 17, but authorities confirmed at least 17 people dead despite efforts by rescue teams and local fishermen to save as many passengers as they could.
Fourteen of the fatalities were brought to the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes at Junquera St., Cebu City around 2 a.m. One of them was identified as Jonathan Ariel Cubaral based on the identification card recovered from the victim’s wallet.
Some of the dead were brought to Cebu City’s pier area, while others were declared dead in the Talisay City District Hospital and the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in this city. Among five bodies brought to the Cebu City pier, two still wore life jackets.
Coast Guard Cebu Station Commander Weniel Azcuna told radio dyHP that 2Go Shipping’s passenger vessel, the M/V Saint Thomas Aquinas, sank within 15 minutes after the collision.
The vessel was heading for a stopover in Cebu, on its way to Manila, when it collided with M/V Sulpicio Express Siete, which was bound for Davao.
The accident occurred near Lawis Ledge off Talisay, where several vessels have previously run aground, including a passenger ship late last February whose 360 passengers got stranded at sea for four hours.
Around midnight, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and other agencies searched the dark waters off Talisay for passengers and crew. The 2Go ship captain, identified as certain Captain Bermejo, was reportedly among those rescued.
Azcuna said the Coast Guard received a call from the captain of the 2Go vessel at 9 p.m., asking for immediate help.
One of the survivors, Aldrin Rahman, told reporters that their vessel had left Nasipit in Butuan City at 12 p.m. They were scheduled to dock in Cebu for a stopover at 9 p.m.
But the vessel violently halted before it could reach Cebu’s port, before 10 p.m.
Rahman recalled that the ship then started sinking, causing the passengers to panic. Some jumped off the boat without putting on life jackets.
An ANCAlerts tweet, quoting the Coast Guard headquarters in Manila, said the 2Go vessel sank in a depth of 144 meters.
Reporters saw Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III checking on the survivors in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, while Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama went to the pier area to get updates on the search.
The Saint Thomas Aquinas vessel carried 723 passengers, said Waterfront Police Chief Waldemar Tiu.
The Sulpicio Express cargo vessel had 36 crew members and officials.
Through the help of fishermen from Sitio Salvador, Barangay Tanke in Talisay City, an unconfirmed number of passengers were rescued while they bobbed in the waves.
see more news : At least 17 dead as 2 vessels collide off Cebu | Sun.Star
Courtesy of: http://www.sunstar.com.ph
--who should be blamed?
as far as I remember ang Sulpicio Lines permi jud ma disgrasya....
MV St. Thomas Aquinas of 2Go collided with Sulpicio Express 7
Originally Posted by gotnowheels
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