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Passengers of the
capsized MBCA Kim-Nirvana ferry (far L) are rescued by a tugboat of the
Philippine coast guard near a port in Ormoc city, central Philippines July 2,
2015. Reuters/Ronald Frank Dejon
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The death toll from a capsized Philippine ferry rose to 51 on
Friday as rescuers tried to right the overturned vessel and found more bodies,
a coast guard official said.
The motorized,
wooden-hulled boat rolled on its side and overturned minutes after leaving the
port of Ormoc City on Thursday. Coast guard Captain Pedro Tinampay said there
were 141 survivors.
Reuters reports passengers said the ferry
appeared to turn sharply to the right and was hit by a large wave before it
overturned after leaving port in Leyte province, south of the capital, Manila.
“We were given life vests
but we were not able to wear them before the ferry sank,” said survivor Rhe-An
Garciano.
Panicked passengers
crowded the right side of the ferry, causing it to tilt slowly before
capsizing, a coast guard spokesman said.
Scores, sometimes
hundreds, of people die each year from ferry accidents in the Philippines, an
archipelago of 7,100 islands with a notoriously poor record for maritime
safety.
Overcrowding
is common and many of the vessels are in bad condition.
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