Many bodies found in Philippine ferry disaster

Anxious and angry family members had been clinging to hope their loved ones might still be found alive inside the doomed Princess of the Stars, which capsized and sank Saturday when it got caught in the path of a typhoon.           Â

But with blame flying over how the 24,000-tonne ferry was allowed to set sail with the storm looming, shaken rescue divers said they had discovered the worst when they finally worked their way into the submerged ship Tuesday.

"There are still many dead inside," said one, who declined to give his name, coming back to his coast guard rescue boat from the wreck off the central island of Sibuyan.

He said one body was found on the bridge, wearing the uniform of a crewman -- and still clutching the ships radio in his hand.

Philippine civil defense chief Anthony Golez said 57 people had survived the sinking, one of the worst maritime disasters in the country’s history -- some of whom made it onto lifeboats in .

But many passengers reportedly had little time to react when the vessel, trapped when Typhoon Fengshen suddenly changed path, began tilting and then quickly capsized off the central island of Sibuyan.

It reportedly developed engine trouble while trying to make it to safety.

There have been reports from local officials of dozens of survivors being found in nearby islands, but coast guard officials said they had yet to confirm those accounts.

In the capital Manila, from where the boat set sail on Friday night, navy spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Edgardo Arevalo confirmed that many bodies were trapped in the vessel but said divers could not yet give more details.

"It was too dark inside to tell how many were children or elderly, but they did say they were mostly floating and they were apparently trapped inside," he said. Arevalo said the waters were still quite rough, making it difficult to enter and exit the sunken vessel.

"What complicates our problem is how to extricate the bodies. One of the ways they are thinking about is to weigh them down so they can take them out from the bottom of the ship. Another option is to cut the hull," he said.

The tip of the overturned hull is all that remains above water after the tragedy, which was the fourth disaster for the ferry company, Sulpicio Lines, since 1987 -- including a crash that year which left around 4,000 dead.

The government slapped an immediate ban on Sulpicio’s vessels from leaving port on Monday.

But the company is one of the largest ferry operators in the Philippines, where people are heavily dependent on ferries to get around the country’s more than 7,000 islands, and said Monday it was still selling tickets.

"We are at a loss as to what really happened," vice president Sally Buaron said. She said the captain, Florenio Marino, sent a distress call moments before giving the order to abandon ship.

A US navy supply ship and surveillance plane are helping with search and Golez said he hoped the Americans would have more sophisticated equipment that could help locate more people.

"As long as there’s small hope that there is an indication that people are still in the waters, we will continue to search," Golez said.

Another ship, the transport vessel Lake Paoay, went down in the same area during the storm on Saturday, leaving three dead and 17 missing.

Spokesman Commodore Armand Balilo said the coast guard wanted to make sure it did not mix the survivors or casualties from the different vessels when accounting for those in the ferry.

Richard Gordon, the Red Cross country chief as well as a lawyer, said that Sulpicio Lines was not legally at fault since the coast guard had allowed the Princess of the Stars to set sail.

"It becomes a judgment call by the captain," Gordon said.

President Gloria Arroyo on Monday ordered the coast guard to review sailing guidelines, especially those relating to typhoons.

Photo: Reuters