Hundreds feared dead after ferry capsizes off Philippines

The Philippines governmenthasgrounded the entire fleet of a company whose ferry capsized in a deadly typhoon, as rescuers continue desperate efforts to locatehundreds ofmissing passengers, local media reported Monday.

The23,824-ton, seven-storey vesselowned by Sulpicio Lines overturned around noon Saturday after its engines failed in the midst of a typhoon lashing the central part of the archipelago.

Thirty-two ferry survivors washed ashore in life-jackets and on rafts on Sunday. Earlier reports pegged the number at 38, but local media reported that some were survivors from other fishing vessels caught in storm.

On Monday, the company said 862 passengers and crew members were on board when the ferry went down several kilometres off Sibuyan Island in the central Philippines, an increase of about 100 from earlier numbers released by the coast guard.

Typhoon Fengshen, also dubbed Frank, began lashing the central Philippines early Saturday. Red Cross officials said the storm has claimed the lives of at least 224 people, with more than 350 others missing, as the storm triggered landslides, severe flooding and damaged dozens of fishing boats.

Government to probe incident

The Philippines governmentblamed Sulpicio Lines for the accident and has formed a task force to investigate.

The Manila Times reported that the company denied responsibility and saidit had not received formal notice of the suspension of its fleet.

"We're still issuing tickets," Sulpicio Lines vice-president Sally Buaron told the newspaper.

Philippines President Gloria Arroyo, who is in Washington for a 10-day trip, has questioned why the ferry was allowed to leave Manila for Cebu when the typhoon was approaching.

A coast guard official has said the ferry was given clearance shortly before the typhoon changed its course.

Several coast guard, navy and Sulpicio Lines vessels were out Monday scouring the area around the capsized ferry for survivors.

Rescuers may bore hole in hull

Coast guard chief Vice-Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo said rescuers may have to bore a hole in the boat to allow divers access to an area where many are believed to be trapped.

Divers have reached the ship, but got no response when they rapped on the hull with metal instruments and had to give up late Sunday due to strong waves. Theyhope to try again Tuesday, and atugboat is on standby with gear to cut through the ferry's hull as a last resort.

Rescue workers have been told to operate carefully, since the ferry's owner said the vessel is carrying bunker oil that could leak.

A U.S. navy ship carrying search and rescue helicopters was expected to arrive from southern Japan late Monday. A P-3 maritime surveillance plane also was being dispatched.

There was faint hope that survivors might be found in areas where communication had been cut off by the weekend storm.

"They're studying the direction of the waves to determine where survivors may have drifted," coast guard spokesman Lt.-Cmdr. Arman Balilo said.

'I was praying every minute'

A janitor aboard the ship, Reynato Lanoria, estimated about 100 people may have survived, "but the others were trapped inside."

"I think they are all dead by now," he told DZMM radio after making it to shore by jumping in the water and reaching a life-raft.

He said he was on the top deck when a crew member ordered passengers to put on their life-vests around 11:30 a.m. local time Saturday.

Half an hour later, the ship began rapidly tilting, causing children and elderly peopleto fall on the slippery deck.

Carlo Jason Arrabis, a 22-year-old nursing graduate, was among those who clambered aboard a life-raft before it capsized, forcing the people who had crowded in itto swim for shore. Not everyone made it.

"We were shouting 'Help, help!' and some of us were blowing on our whistles," Arrabis said. "Others were clinging to the lifeboat. We did not expect to survive.

"I just entrusted my life to God. I was praying every minute. I was calling all the saints."

When Ritchie Tayongtong fell and hit a railing as the ferry lurched to one side in the howling typhoon, her husband coached her not to panic. As the sea rose to swallow them, he gave the order to jump.

But when she was pulled aboard a raft, the man she called Love was nowhere to be seen.

"I yelled 'Love! Love! Love!,' but there was no reply, nothing," the former teacher recalled. "The others on the raft asked me just to pray so he'll survive."

The Philippines was the scene of the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster when the ferry Dona Paz sank in 1987, killing more than 4,341 people.