June 23, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 18, 1429

MANILA, June 22: Hundreds are feared dead after a ferry carrying more than 700 passengers and crew sank in rough seas and at least 229 people are confirmed dead and at least six missing after Typhoon Fengshen ravaged the central and southern Philippines, Red Cross and civil defence officials and reports said on Sunday.

The MV Princess of the Stars went down at around noon on Saturday (0400 GMT) several kilometres off the coast of Sibuyan Island after being battered by huge waves when its engines failed, officials and survivors said.

Four bodies washed ashore on Sibuyan and four survivors were found, but the death toll is likely to rise sharply with the fate of the rest of the passengers and crew unknown, officials and reports said.

The increasingly desperate search for survivors was halted for the evening as frantic relatives descended on the offices of the ferry company demanding to know why the ship had been allowed to set sail with a typhoon approaching.

One of the known survivors, crew member Reynato Lanorio, said the ship listed and sank in just 15 terrifying minutes.

“It seemed like everything happened in 15 minutes. Next thing we knew, the ship had gone under,” he said, adding the captain of the 23,824-tonne vessel gave orders to abandon ship shortly after it listed, sending passengers and crew scrambling for life rafts.

“Many of us managed to get on the lifeboats, but I don’t know if they survived,” the crew member told DZBB radio from his hospital bed where he was being treated for cuts to his face.

—AFP