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Journalism of Courage
MANILA, DECEMBER 23: About 540 survivors were plucked from the rough seas after a Philippine passenger ship packed with men, women and children returning home for Christmas sank before dawn today.
But several hours after the ship went down, some 115 people were still missing and four bodies had been found, said Angel Gaviola, a senior civil defence official.
A massive rescue operation was launched off Bantayan island, 500 kms southeast of Manila in the central Philippines, where the MV Asia South Korea sank at 5 am on Wednesday, defence secretary Orlando Mercado told Reuters.
Three naval ships, other merchant vessels, helicopters and fishing boats converged on the area, in the Visayan Sea, plucking people from the water.
As people bobbed in the sea with bright orange life-vests strapped around their chests, motorboats moved in to pick them up, footage on local television stations showed.
MV Asia South Korea, a 27-year-old vessel, had 606 passengers on board and 52 crew, the shipping line andcoast guard officials said.
By 4 pm, some 11 hours after the accident, 539 people had been rescued and four bodies recovered, said Gaviola, head of the civil defence office in Cebu, Central Philippines.
The ship left Cebu on a 12-hour voyage for the island of Iloilo on Wednesday night, after being delayed while excess passengers were off-loaded, the coast guard said.
Most of the passengers on the ship were people working in and around Cebu, the largest city in the region, who were returning home for Christmas, shipping officials said.
The office of civil defence and Cebu governor Pablo Garcia quoted survivors as saying the ship was battered by huge waves, causing it to sink.
