By Ephraim Aguilar, A1
Inquirer Southern Luzon
LEGAZPI CITY—A SUDDEN strong wind yesterday caused an interisland ferry to capsize off Masbate province, killing at least 40 passengers.
Of the 119 passengers aboard the MB Don Dexter Cathlyn, 76 survived, said the Masbate police director, Senior Supt. Reuben Sindac. The survivors are in the custody of the provincial police.
Three others on the manifest have yet to be accounted for. Police and rescue crews also have yet to account for the vessel’s crew.
“We were not able to determine how many crewmen there were... You know how it is in boats—the arrangement is very informal,” Sindac told the Inquirer in Manila in a text message.
Rescuers said no more survivors could be seen around the boat, which overturned 5 kilometers off the coast of Barangay Magcaragit in the town of Dimasalang in Masbate.
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)-Masbate commander Reynaldo Fabico, who was aboard the rescue vessel, said rescuers were finding only corpses.
Survivor Pedro Bultron, 52, said the boat was overloaded and that the tragedy happened very fast.
“A strong wind suddenly struck our boat. It quickly turned upside down. All I could see were big waves,” Bultron, of Palanas, Masbate, told the Inquirer by phone.
He said the Don Dexter Cathlyn was heading to Bulan, Sorsogon, from Dimasalang when the wind struck.
“We were crowded inside,” Bultron said. “Some passengers were already standing on the aisle. Maybe the boat lost its balance.”
The boat left port at 1:30 p.m. in clear weather.
PCG-Masbate received the report on the mishap by phone at around 2:40 p.m., said PO3 Freddie Sanorjo.
100 body bags
Dr. Adolfo Almanzor, the provincial health officer, said an estimated 100 body bags had been requested from the Department of Health office in Bicol for transport last night to the disaster site.
Dr. Alfredo Lim, chief medical officer of the Espinosa Memorial Hospital in Dimasalang, said the bodies were being temporarily held at the town plaza, and that some of the survivors were there to identify their kin.
The dead included 11 children, according to The Associated Press.
Almanzor said 27 survivors were taken to the hospital and given first aid.
Lim said nine of the 27 were confined, with their injuries ranging from abrasions, contusions, hypertension and head wounds.
Bultron himself had a head injury and was among those confined.
“We held on tight to the [capsized] boat. We were in the water for an hour before the rescuers finally retrieved us,” he said.
Crying children
Bultron said he was on the way to Manila with two other relatives, and that his cousin had saved him from certain death.
He said he saw many other passengers struggling in the water, but what caught his attention were the cries of children.
He also said there were probably passengers trapped underneath the boat. “Rescuers would have to dive to take them out,” he said.
Sindac said the boat was “hit by a sudden gust of wind” just off Magcaragit.
He said the weather phenomenon was locally known as “subasko.”
Another PCG official, Capt. Enrico Efren Evangelista, said “there was a squall and the wind was strong.”
He described the Don Dexter Cathlyn as a “large motorized banca” used in interisland routes. “It’s for short distances,” he said.
Evangelista identified the boat operator as Eduardo Yap, and said the latter was now in the custody of PCG Masbate.
Only five months earlier, the MV Princess of the Stars owned and operated by Sulpicio Lines Inc. sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon, killing more than 700 passengers.
Operations to retrieve bodies trapped in the ship’s hull are continuing. With reports from Tarra Quismundo and Kristine L. Alave in Manila
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