14 DAY TRIAL // A ferry boat carrying 752 passengers has smashed into a cargo ship and sank in the Philippine islands at the end of last week, killing at least 52 people.
According to a report by the Philippine Coast Guard relayed by News 24, about 750 people traveling on both boats have been rescued.
The total number of passengers and crew members surpasses 841. Authorities are still searching for 68 people.
The MV Thomas Aquinas ship collided with the Sulpicio Express 7 cargo ship off Lawis Ledge, Talisay city, on Friday, August 16. Reports say that all 38 staff members on the cargo ship have survived the impact.
Several passengers remained trapped as the ferry sank near the port of Cebu, Daily Mail added.
Coast Guard deputy chief Rear Admiral Luis Tuason describes the vessel sinking 33 meters (100 feet) deep off Talisay city, two kilometers (1.25 miles) from the shoreline.
"There could be more bodies there, but there were ropes inside that our divers could get entangled in," Tuason explains.
He informed the press that the cargo ship collided with the ferry "resulting in major damage that led to its sinking."
The incident brought on fuel and oil spills from the sunken ferry, and first responders have described finding bodies covered in fuel.
"I saw many flares being shot. [...] As a former nautical student, I knew it was a distress signal.
"We just picked up the survivors and left the dead in the water. [...] I heard screams and crying," recalls Danny Palmero, who used his motorized outrigger canoe to pull seven people out of the water.
Passenger Jerwin Agudong mentioned being on the ferry and having it enter the pier right before seeing the cargo ship charge into it.
"It seems some were not able to get out. I pity the children. We saw dead bodies on the side, and some being rescued.
"One of the persons who jumped with us hit his head on metal. He is shaking and he is bloodied," he remembers.