Marine

4.11, sinking, fatalities

Philippines: forty three persons, including 11 children, were confirmed to have died when a ferry boat capsized off Masbate province. About 105 others were rescued. The ferry Don Dexter Cathlyn was five kilometres from shore in Dimasalang town when a squall capsized. Of the 29 adult dead, 25 were women. Police had yet to identify the victims. Sindac said the ferry, which was bound for Bulan town in Sorsogon, was barely 20 minutes into its voyage when the incident occurred. Coast Guard and police rescue teams were able to recover the manifest of the ferry, which showed it had 119 passengers. There was no mention of how large a crew the ferry had. Coast guard officials were able to rescue only 76 passengers. Rescue operations for the missing passengers were continuing. Ferry Don Dexter Cathlyn was overloaded by up to 50%, preliminary reports reaching the Philippine Coast Guard showed. While the ship was designed to accommodate 100 passengers, rescuers’ reports showed there were 152 on board. Ten passengers were reported as missing. Both the owner and operator of the ill-fated vessel and the vessel’s master were in the custody of the local Coast Guard.