Monday, June 26, 2006
Boat overturns amid stormy weather; 2 missing
MANILA -- Two people were missing Sunday after their motorboat capsized in stormy weather in the central Philippines, the coast guard said. Another 12 people survived by clinging to the boat.
The M/B Blyt was carrying 14 people and construction materials from Sorsogon province to nearby Northern Samar province on Saturday when it was buffeted by wind and waves and overturned, a coast guard statement said.
Twelve people, some of them children, clung to the capsized boat until it drifted near Samar's Capul Island early Sunday, and villagers rescued the passengers, the statement said.
It said two other people were missing and a search and rescue mission was underway.
Samar, about 480 kilometers southeast of Manila, is among a cluster of central provinces and islands affected by a passing tropical storm, forecasters said.
Coast guard officials said they were investigating the incident to determine whether the Blyt had permission to leave Sorsogon's port town of Matnog on Saturday.
The coast guard had temporarily prohibited several small ferries from leaving Sorsogon and nearby Albay province starting Saturday due to the storm, stranding nearly 1,800 passengers, officials said. (AP)
(June 26, 2006 issue)
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