Death toll in Cebu collision reaches 111

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday said the body of a male adult was retrieved from the cargo hold of the sunken M/V St. Thomas Aquinas in Cebu, bringing the official death toll to 111.

Commodore William Melad, PCG Central Visayas District commander, said the search for 26 other missing passengers of the ferry which collided with cargo vessel Sulpicio Express Siete last Aug. 16, continues.

At least 733 passengers and crewmembers of the ferry survived the tragedy.

Melad said there was a delay in the arrival of equipment from Japan that would be used to siphon three kinds of oil from six tanks of the sunken ship.

At the time of the collision, M/V St. Thomas Aquinas was reportedly carrying 120,000 liters of bunker oil, 20,000 liters of lube oil, and 20,000 liters of diesel oil.

The equipment was fetched by a tugboat of Malayan Towage from Japan and was expected to arrive in Cebu yesterday, but Melad said it would instead arrive tomorrow.

“They would then require two days to set up their equipment so they might begin siphoning the oil this coming Monday,” Melad said.

2Go Travel, owner and operator of the M/V St. Thomas Aquinas, hired the services of Malayan Towage and Nippon Salvage to remove the remaining oil from the ship, as oil leaks have affected at least 11 barangays in Cordova town in Cebu.

The ferry had come from Butuan City and was headed toward Cebu while the cargo ship was coming out of Cebu en route to Davao when the collision happened. – With Jaime Laude