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Divers struggle with bodies in Philippine ferry

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-26 22:07

SAN FERNANDO, Philippines -- Divers having difficulty removing bodies from a capsized ferry were forced to use heavy weights to help pull the dead out of the upside-down vessel, Philippine officials said Thursday.

Philippine rescuers, left, approach the sunken passenger ferry, the MV Princess of the Stars, to conduct a search and rescue operation off the Sibuyan Sea in central Philippines on Wednesday, June 25, 2008. Only four dozen survivors were found so far and more than 800 passengers and crew remained missing more than four days after Typhoon Fengshen overturned the seven-story ferry. [Agencies]

The bodies had floated to the top of the submerged cabins and compartments on the seven-story ferry, Coast Guard Commodore Luis Tuason said. Divers were struggling to pull the bloated bodies through narrow, debris-filled corridors to exit the vessel.

It remains unclear how many of the 850-plus passengers and crew were trapped when the 23,824-ton Princess of the Stars suddenly listed and went belly up in a half-hour or less during a powerful typhoon Saturday, leaving just the tip of the bow jutting from the water.

Only 56 survivors have been found, while 124 bodies have been recovered after washing ashore or spotted floating in the sea, some in life jackets, Coast Guard Commander Danilo Avila said.

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