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9 dead, 926 rescued from capsized Philippine ferry

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-07 07:54

MANILA, Philippines: Passengers leapt into the dark sea and parents dropped children into life rafts from a stricken ferry carrying nearly 1,000 people after it capsized in the middle of the night in the southern Philippines.

Passengers hang on the port side of the "SuperFerry 9" before it sank off Zamboanga del Norte in the southern Philippines September 6, 2009. [Agencies]

Nine people died and more than 30 were missing Sunday though rescue efforts saved about 900 terrified victims on the Superferry 9 after turned on its side 9 miles (15 kilometers) off Zamboanga del Norte province.

The vessel's violent rotation roused frightened passengers from their sleep and sent many jumping in the darkness into the water, coast guard chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said.

Many aboard panicked as the huge ferry listed, said passenger Reymark Belgira. He said he saw parents tossing children to people on life rafts below, but he could not immediately jump himself.

"I held on to the ferry for hours until day break. I couldn't jump into the water in the dark," Belgira said.

Rescuers transferred 926 of 968 passengers and crewmen to two nearby commercial ships, a navy gunboat and a fishing boat, Tamayo said. A search was under way for 33 missing people.

"We really hope they're just unaccounted for due to the confusion," Tamayo told The Associated Press.

Related readings:  88 missing after Philippine passenger ferry sinks

A coast guard statement said rescue efforts were continuing through the night.

Passenger Roger Cinciron said he felt the ferry tilting at about midnight but was assured by a crewman that all was well. About two hours later he was awoken by the sound of crashing cargo below his cabin, he told DZMM radio.

"People began to panic because the ship was really tilting," he said as he waited for rescuers to save him and a group of more than 20 other passengers.

Navy ships were deployed and three military aircraft scoured the seas, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said. American troops providing counterterrorism training to Philippine soldiers in the region deployed a civilian helicopter and five boats, some carrying paramedics, to help, U.S. Col. William Coultrup said.

Survivors of Superferry 9 walk past security personnel after disembarking from a rescue vessel at the port of Zamboanga, southern Philippines, Sept. 6, 2009. [Agencies]

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