Ferry death toll still going up

ORMOC CITY – The number of fatalities from the sinking of a ferry off the coast of this city on Thursday hit 60 with two more bodies retrieved at the site yesterday.

There were reports that another body was retrieved off the coast of nearby Merida town but this has yet to be verified by authorities.

The Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has reported the death toll from M/B Kim

Nirvana at 61. Nelita Navales, Ormoc

City health officer, however, said the official body count remained at 60, as two more bodies – a woman and a young girl – were added to the list. Their bodies were found floating near the site where the ferry sank.

Navales said another body reportedly fished out of the waters of Merida was not included in their official count pending verification.

Officials said 11 more bodies were brought to various funeral homes with three of them still unidentified.

Vice President Jejomar Binay extended his condolences to the families of the fatalities.

Binay’s spokesman Joey Salgado said the Vice President visited yesterday the families of Abigail Salenas and Jobert de la Cruz, two victims of the sea mishap.

He said the Vice President was accompanied by Ormoc City Mayor Edward Codilla.

Salgado said Binay gave cash assistance to the families.

Binay and Codilla also went to a funeral parlor where most of the fatalities were brought.

The Vice President also met some of the survivors and inspected the accident site.

The two-deck vessel carrying 173 passengers capsized at 12:20 p.m. last Thursday about 200 meters from Ormoc port, just 20 minutes after it left the port for Pilar town in Camotes Island.

Officials pointed out there was human error on the part of the boat captain.

Passengers are also blaming the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for allowing the ferry to sail despite being overloaded with passengers and cargo.

The police and six survivors have filed criminal charges against the owner, captain and crew of the ferry.

The PCG, on the other hand, could face raps over concerns of overloading.

The ferry’s manifest only listed 173 passengers, but it has since been found that 185 passengers and 19 crew were on board.

The PCG earlier said the ferry had a capacity of 194 people.

Boat owner Juge Bong Zarco, a survivor himself, said he was willing to help the victims but cannot commit how much he can extend, saying he also suffered heavy losses.

Zarco defended the boat captain, Warren Oliverio, saying he was a veteran boatman and what happened was an accident.

Police regional director Chief Superintendent Asher Dolina, however, said the initial findings revealed there was human error on the part of the captain.

Dolina said the boat was hurriedly maneuvered, causing it to be blind-sided by big waves.