Philippine Ship Collision: Death Toll Rises To 52

Philippine ship collision fatalities have now increased to 52, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Monday morning.

Philippine Ship Collision: Death Toll Rises To 52

According to PCG, 9 more bodies were recovered from the sunken passenger ship M/V St. Thomas Aquinas, which collided with the cargo ship Sulpicio Express Siete near the port of Cebu at around 9:30pm on Friday.

M/V St. Thomas Aquinas, which started sinking just a few minutes after the collision, was reportedly carrying 723 passengers and 118 crew members or a total of 841 people, of whom 68 are still missing. The cargo ship, which had 36 crew members on board, did not sink.

Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda, the commander of the military's Central Command, said full-scale underwater operation must be done. However, due to bad weather condition the operation was temporarily suspended Saturday afternoon to protect the  divers’ safety.

In an official statement, 2GO Group, the owner of the passenger ship, said that alongside the ongoing search and rescue operations, they are also helping in the containment of the oil spill from the capsized ferry by flying in oil spill experts to professionally handle the situation in Lawis Ledge, Talisay City.

The company initially deployed 2 Malayan tugboats equipped with a 400 meter oil spill boom, oil skimmer, solvent boom pads, all used to absorb and contain the oil spill of the sunken M/V Thomas Aquinas.