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A ferry with about 750 people onboard listed and sank
in just 15 terrifying minutes in the typhoon-battered seas of the
central Philippines, one of only four survivors
said Sunday.
The captain of the MV Princess of
the Stars “gave the orders to abandon ship shortly after it
listed,” sending passengers and crew scrambling for life rafts,
crew member Reynato Lanorio told dzBB radio from his hospital bed.
“It seemed like everything
happened in 15 minutes. Next thing we knew, the ship had gone
under,” he added.
Lanorio, who said he suffered
cuts to his face, was one of only four people known to have survived
the sinking off the island of Sibuyan.
In an interview on dzMM radio,
the mayor of San Fernando city in Romblon confirmed that the ferry
sank off Sibuyan.
A local report quoted officials
as saying the road to the shore near the ferry was “almost
impassible” because of damage done by the typhoon, and a local
police chief was rushing to the shore on a motorcycle.
Engine failure disputed
The three other survivors told
GMA News on local television that they did not believe the engines
had failed—as officials have said—but said the ship cut its
speed because it was being pounded by huge waves.
The accident, potentially the
worst since the Doña Paz ferry collided with an oil tanker off the
central Philippines in 1987 with the loss of some 4,000 lives,
occurred as Typhoon Frank lashed the central islands.
Lanorio said, “Many of us
managed to get on the lifeboats, but I don’t know if they
survived.” Four other people on his raft were wrenched away by the
big waves, while he clung on for dear life.
“I did not let go of the rope
tied to the side of the raft,” he added.
Lanorio said the sinking occurred
around noon Saturday, 16 hours into the 22-hour voyage, while the
passengers were eating lunch. The captain ordered the 121
crewmembers to man their stations as the ship tilted to one side.
But the other survivors told GMA
News that the crewmembers were so busy saving themselves that they
did not help passengers to lifeboats or into safety vests.
Survivor Jesus Gica said many
people jumped overboard, but he doubted whether many would have
survived because of the rough seas.
He added that of those passengers
who made it into lifeboats, he doubted many would have survived in
the water because it was so rough.
Coast guard theory
The coast guard said earlier the
ferry was probably holed below the water line after its engine
failed and drifted to shallow waters, having been advised on radio
to seek shelter from the coming typhoon.
It left the Manila port at 8 p.m.
Friday.
Police found the survivors in
remote coastal villages after they were washed ashore on Sibuyan
Island, Mayor Nanette Tansingco of San Fernando town told dzBB
radio.
The mayor reported that four
bodies had been found washed ashore and that police found a big hole
in the sunken vessel, with the rest of the crew and passengers
unaccounted for.
The bodies, including three
female and one male, are believed to be of passengers aboard the
ferry, according to reports reaching government.
President Gloria Arroyo, on a
plane halfway to the United States for an official visit, criticized
the authorities for failing to stop the vessel from sailing.
Regional coast guard Commander
Cecil Chen said the Princess of the Stars was given the all-clear to
sail Friday shortly before the typhoon changed its course.
With the typhoon approaching, the
ship’s captain was radioed to take shelter, and “the captain
attempted to do that,” Chen said.
However, he said the engine
failed and the vessel was left stranded in the water off Sibuyan’s
southeast coast.
“The engine conked out and
[with] the vessel dead on the water and no immediate assistance
could be rendered on the vessel, it suffered the consequence of
drifting to the shallow portion and was grounded,” he said.
Built in 1984, MV Princess of the
Stars has a gross tonnage of 23,824.17 and total passenger capacity
of 1,992 people.
President Arroyo placed the
National Disaster Coordinating Council and the Department of
Interior and Local Government under search-and-rescue mode.
The national news network GMA
News on Sunday quoted coast guard Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo as
saying he expected rescue ships to reach the area within two to
three hours.
Rep. Eleandro Madrona of Romblon
said, “It is possible there are survivors” who managed to swim
to safety, while Vice President Noli de Castro vowed the government
would seek prosecutions if it could be proven some officials
neglected their duties.
Pope’s message
Pope Benedict XVI pledged Sunday
to say a “special prayer to God” after the typhoon-stricken
ferry sank.
“It is with deep emotion that I
learn this morning of the sinking in the Philippines of a ferry hit
by Typhoon Fengshen [international name of Frank],” the Pope said
after reciting the Angelus prayer following his Sunday mass at the
Vatican.
Pope Benedict was invited to
visit the Philippines, where eight out of 10 people are Roman
Catholics, by President Arroyo last year. The last papal visit to
the southeast Asian nation was by the late John Paul II in 1995.
--Afp With Jefferson Antiporda And Xinhua
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