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| Situation Update No. 1 Ref.no.: VI-20091224-24289-PHL
Situation Update No. 1
On 2009-12-24 at 11:25:09 [UTC]
Event: Vehicle Accident
Location: Philippines Capital City Manila Bay Manila
Number of Deads: 3 person(s)
Number of Missing: 27 person(s)
Number of Evacuated: 46 person(s)
Situation: Forty-six persons were rescued while 27 others are missing after a passenger ship and a fishing boat collided early Thursday morning off Cavite. Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina, National Police spokesman, said the incident happened at about 2:25 a.m. at 2.8 nautical miles northwest of Limbones Island. “As of 6 a.m. today [Thursday], 46 persons have been rescued and 27 are still missing,” Espina said. Among those missing were two children, an infant and a crew member of the passenger ship involved in the accident—MB Catalyn B. The Navy spokesman, Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, said BRP Sulpicio Fernandez (PG 853), with three officers and 15 rescue crew, was immediately sent to search for the victims. Navy and Coast Guard aircraft were also dispatched to help find the missing passengers and crewman. "Two more Navy ships are also underway to augment the search-and- rescue efforts,” Arevalo said. Coast Guard officials said the passenger vessel is on its way to Lubang Island when the accident happened. The fishing boat, FB Nathalia, on the other hand, was returning to Manila. The 79-gross-ton MB Catalyn B is owned by San Nicolas Shipping Lines. It left Manila port at about 9 p.m. on Wednesday bound for Lubang Island in Mindoro. Initial Coast Guard investigation shows that the motor boat’s front collided with the back of the 369-gross- ton fishing vessel, causing the smaller vessel to capsize. The motor boat had 55 passengers and 15 crew members. Coast Guard said 46 people were rescued, at least three drowned, including a 34-year-old woman, and the rest are still missing as of press time. Coast Guard said the two vessels may not have followed the rules on the sea, or which ship should go first and who should give way. The captains of both vessels have filed marine protests. Coast Guard officials said a Board of Marine inquiry will be immediately convened to investigate the accident. The rescued passengers complained that the captain ofthe passenger ship was asleep when the accident happened. Coast Guard personnel took the survivors to the Philippine Coast Guard headquarters on Roxas Boulevard in Manila, where they were provided hot meals and subjected to medical examinations. Rescuers first took the survivors to Limbones Island, where they were fetched by a Coast Guard ship for transfer to Manila. |  | | | |
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