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Sunday, March 07, 2004
Coastguard concentrates on retrieval operation
MANILA -- Coastguard are loosing hope of rescuing survivors inside the wreckage of Superferry 14 as search and rescue operation has been downgraded to search and retrieval operation, eight days after the tragedy on Feb. 27.
Divers recovered more bodies and body parts during Saturday's retrieval operation.
Authorities and relatives of missing passengers are having a hard time identifying the bodies due to advance state of decomposition.
The divers could not tell if the body parts belonged to different people or were from the same person, Vice Admiral Arturo Gosingan said.
"Some pieces are just a hand, a leg, or even a head," Gosingan said, refusing to speculate why the bodies were in such condition.
Divers have to bear the stench of death and darkness in scouring the partly submerged hulk of Superferry 14, which consists 20 percent of the area not yet inspected by authorities.
Authorities are still to account for the remaining 108 missing passengers.
Divers and Navy frogmen had to endure the overpowering smell of decaying bodies, smoke, darkness and heat to get the bodies out of the half-submerged ferry.
Despite this, authorities vowed to continue their search and retrieval operation.
No hope
Coastguard no longer hope to rescue any of the missing survivors inside the ferry.
The ship caught fire after what survivors described as a mysterious pre-dawn explosion on Feb. 27 as the ferry sailed out of Manila Bay with 899 people on board.
More than 700 other passengers and crew were rescued. The wreck was later towed to shallow waters off Mariveles town, west of Manila.
Identification
The Crime laboratory is willing to help in the identification of the recovered bodies but it would take some time and several procedures.
Relatives are having a hard time identifying the bodies as these are already in a state of decomposition.
The more difficulty it is for the recovered body parts.
In one funeral parlor, 11 bodies were brought in by the Aboitiz Transport, the owner of the vessel, but so far only five have been identified.
Authorities still hope that many of those missing may have been rescued by smaller vessels and had simply neglected to check in.
But ferry company spokeswoman Gina Vertusio said there had been no new reports of survivors in recent days although there had been a "trickle" of unverified reports of survivors.
Vertusio said they are still hopeful to get some information that will help them account for the missing passengers.
"We cannot assume those missing are dead already," she said.Sunnex/AFP
(March 7, 2004 issue)
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