Ferry with 350 aboard sinks in southern Philippines; at least 15 dead

Manila: A ferry carrying over 350 people sank early Monday near an island in the southern Philippines, with rescuers saving at least 316 passengers and recovering 15 bodies, officials said.

The M/V Trisha Kerstin 3, an inter-island cargo and passenger vessel, was en route from Zamboanga City to Jolo Island in Sulu province with 332 passengers and 27 crew members when it reportedly experienced technical difficulties and sank shortly after midnight, coast guard officials reported.

There were "8 confirmed casualties" so far, Basilan province mayor Arsina Laja Kahing-Nanoh said in a Facebook post.

Emergency responder Ronalyn Perez told AFP that "at least 138 people" had been rescued so far, as search teams raced against time to locate missing passengers.

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"The challenge here really is the number of patients that are coming in. We are short-staffed at the moment," Perez said, adding that 18 survivors had been brought to a local hospital.

"The ferry was sailing from Zamboanga City to Jolo Island when the incident happened," she added.

The Philippine Coast Guard said it was "actively coordinating" with its southern Mindanao station to support ongoing search and rescue efforts.

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The cause of the ferry sinking was not immediately clear and there will be an investigation, Dua said, adding that the coast guard cleared the ferry before it left the Zamboanga port and there was no sign of overloading.

Sea accidents are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained vessels, overcrowding and spotty enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.

In December 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the central Philippines, killing more than 4,300 people in the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster.