Death toll in ferry sinking hits 108

MANILA, Philippines - The number of casualties from the sinking of the ferry St. Thomas Aquinas in Cebu has reached 108, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said yesterday.

PCG Central Visayas district commander Commodore William Melad said divers found three more bodies at about 10:50 a.m.

 Melad said they were still searching for 29 people. The number of survivors remains at 733. When the vessel sank on Aug. 16, there were 870 people on the ship.

PCG spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said the search and rescue operation was suspended yesterday afternoon to allow the divers to rest.

It has been 15 days since the divers from the PCG, Philippine Navy, Philippine Technical Divers, PCG Auxiliary and volunteers began the search, rescue and retrieval operation.

Melad said the team had searched a substantial portion of the ship, but there are still sections in the passenger and cabin crew accommodations that were difficult to reach as debris blocked the way.

He said since divers continue to recover more bodies from the wreckage, they would not call off the search and retrieval operations.

“For as long as the divers have the equipment and are fit to continue with the task, then the diving operations would go on,” he said.

Melad said PCG commandant Rear Admiral Rodolfo Isorena has ordered them not to stop the operation until all parts of the ship have been checked for bodies.