Little hope of more ferry survivors
- 00:01:33
- ITN
Little hope of more ferry survivors
Rescuers hold little hope of finding more survivors after a ferry capsized during a typhoon in the Philippines.Some 800 are still missing after the Typhoon Fengshen struck the MV Princess of Stars with wind gusts up of to 195kph (120mph) on Saturday.Only 38 people have been found alive so far, including 28 who drifted at sea for more than 24 hours in life jackets before they were found on Sunday about 80 miles (130km) away.A spokesman for the navy, Lieutenant-Colonel Edgard Arevalo, said of Sunday's rescue efforts: "We just approached the hull of the ship, we got near and then banged, knocked in order for us to give a sign if ever there are still people inside. Unfortunately there was no response."Divers are now preparing to drill into the ship's hull in the hope of finding survivors in air pockets.Philippine transport authorities have grounded ferry owner Sulpicio Lines' other vessels for inspection. The company's ships have been involved in three other major disasters over the past 21 years.In 1987, the Sulpicio-owned Dona Paz ferry collided with an oil tanker killing more than 4,000 people in the world's worst peacetime sea tragedy.Distraught relatives of the 845-plus people on board the Princess of Stars complained to Sulpicio employees while waiting for news in the central city of Cebu, where the ferry was meant to dock."You can't bring our loved ones back. You should be held responsible," one woman said.Edward Go, one of Sulpicio's owners, said the company was relying on the coast guard for information."We fully understand the feelings of the people and we are prepared to help them in any way we can, but, as of now there is really no information available," he said.The weekend's typhoon washed away houses and roads and forced tens of thousands to evacuate. Aside from the ferry disaster, a further 155 people were killed, according to the Red Cross.In the worst-hit province of Iloilo, damage to agriculture and infrastructure was estimated at 1.7 billion pesos (£19m).The Department of Agriculture said in a statement nearly 250,000 hectares of farmland was damaged, mostly paddy fields.Disaster officials were worried about food supplies for evacuees, crammed into schools, churches and town halls."I don't think they have enough rice to tide them over," Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Philippines' Red Cross, said.The typhoon is currently over the South China Sea and is expected to weaken to a tropical storm as it moves northwards.
ITN | June 23, 2008
