Saturday, September 5, 2009

Superferry 9 Sinks off Zamboanga

Coast Guard and Navy ships rushed to the Zamboanga Peninsula in Mindanao early Sunday to rescue some 959 passengers from a tilting "SuperFerry 9" vessel.

The ship finally sank Sunday Morning, leaving 4 people dead and 2 injured, an official of the Philippine Navy reported.



Coast Guard and Navy ships rushed to the scene early Sunday to rescue some 959 passengers from the tilting ship.



Radio dzBB's Lito Laparan reported the SuperFerry 9, which had 847 passengers and 112 crew, was tilting more than 50 degrees when rescuer rushed to the scene at 6:30 a.m. Sunday.



No details were immediately available on the two injured passengers.



In an interview on dzBB, Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo confirmed that 4 have been reported dead as "SuperFerry 9" finally sank after it tilted for hours off Zamboanga.



Arevalo said that 3 of the fatalities were reported taken by a rescue vessel MV Myriad and 1 recovered by a Navy rescue boat.



According to Arevalo, SuperFerry 9 sank completely at 8:30 a.m.



Initial tally of those rescued as of 8 a.m. was 258. Rescue operations are still going on.



DzBB's Carlo Mateo, reporting from the office of the Philippine Coast Guard, said that as of 9:50 a. m., around 253 passengers were still unaccounted for.



Philippine Coast Guard commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said that SuperFerry 9 was located off Siocon in Zamboanga Peninsula, adding that initial reports showed the ship had problems when its generator set went “on and off."



Radio dzBB’s Lito Laparan reported earlier that the ship, which had 847 passengers and 112 crew, had listed more than 50 degrees as of 6:30 a.m. Sunday.



Initial investigation showed the ship started to list at 2 a.m. It left General Santos City at 8:45 a.m. Saturday and was heading for Iloilo.



Source: GMANews











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