Deadly ferry disaster hits Philippines
A ferry with more than 350 people on board sank early Monday near an island in the southern Philippines, killing at least 15 people, officials said. Rescuers saved at least 316 passengers, and crewmembers retrieved 15 bodies, and a fleet of boats backed by a surveillance plane was carrying out a search and rescue operation for the missing.
Coast guard officials said the cargo and passenger ferry apparently encountered technical problems and sank after midnight. The vessel abruptly tilted to one side and took on water, hurling people into the sea in the darkness, according to a rescued passenger who lost his 6-month-old baby. “My wife lost hold of our baby, and all of us got separated at sea,” a distraught Mohamad Khan told a volunteer rescuer, Gamar Alih, who posted a video of Khan’s remarks on Facebook.
He said he and his wife, who had been holding their child, were rescued, but the baby drowned. His wife wept by his side as Khan told of their ordeal. The M/V Trisha Kerstin 3 was sailing in good weather from the port city of Zamboanga to southern Jolo Island in Sulu province with 332 passengers and 27 crew members. It sank about a nautical mile (nearly 2 kilometres) from the island village of Baluk-baluk in Basilan province, said coast guard Commander Romel Dua. “There was a coast guard safety officer on board, and he was the first to call and alert us to deploy rescue vessels,” Dua said, adding that the safety officer survived.
The cause of the ferry sinking was not immediately clear, and there will be an investigation, Dua said. The coast guard had cleared the ferry before it left the Zamboanga port, and there was no sign of overloading, he said. Coast guard and navy ships, along with a surveillance plane, an air force Black Hawk helicopter and fleets of fishing boats were carrying out search and rescue operations off Basilan, Dua said. Philippine Coast Guard showing its personnel tending to people who were aboard the M/V Trisha Kerstin 3 around the waters of Baluk-Baluk Island.
Search for six presumed dead in NZ
Wellington: Search for six people presumed killed in a landslide at one of New Zealand’s most popular beach campsites is expected to take days, authorities said on Monday. Heavy rain caused the massive slip at Beachside Park, nestled at the foot of Mount Maunganui, as a summer storm swept down the North Island on Thursday. Those missing ranged in age from 15 to 71 and included a Swedish tourist and a teenager from Italy. Work to find the missing was suspended over the weekend because of fears that the ground remained unstable.
The search resumed Monday as authorities said the recovery teams were working in dangerous conditions. “We’re just holding out for the weather to improve because moisture is the enemy at this point,” police Supt. Tim Anderson said in a statement. “The ground is saturated, and what we need is days of fine weather.” A wave of mud from the mountain hit the campsite, which is in a picturesque beachside spot named after an extinct volcano.
