MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 2) Forty persons, including 11 children, are confirmed to have died when a ferry boat capsized off Masbate province early Tuesday afternoon, a police official said.
In a phone interview, Senior Superintendent Reuben Sindac, Masbate provincial police director, said the M/B Don Dexter Cathlyn was five kilometers from shore in Dimasalang town when a squall capsized it past 1 p.m.
As of posting time, Sindac said that of the 11 children, four were infants. Of the 29 adult dead, 25 were women.
Police have 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.
As of posting time, coast guard officials were able to rescue only 76 passengers.
Rescue operations for the missing passengers are continuing.(INQUIRER.net)
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Topic: 40 dead as ferry capsizes off Masbate (Read 1394 times)