Rescue operations for missing in Cebu ferry disaster resume

Volunteers search near the bow-damaged cargo ship Sulpicio Express Siete Saturday Aug. 17, 2013, a day after it collided with a passenger ferry off the waters of Talisay city, Cebu province in central Philippines. AP

MANILA, Philippines—Rescue teams involved in the search for atleast 170 still missing passengers in the sunken MV St. Thomas Aquinas are set to resume its operations Sunday, a Philippine Coast Guard official said.

Lieutenant Commander Armand Balilo, PCG spokesman, said surface search operations have resumed, while divers are currently on a meeting before their operations start.

He said BRP Pampanga is on its way to help with the search.

Thirty-two bodies were found when rescue operations were halted Saturday evening due rough waters off Talisay City in Cebu where MV St. Thomas Aquinas went down after colliding with MV Sulpicio Express Siete late Friday.

Atleast 630 passengers were plucked out of water alive. Survivors were seen coated in fuel and oil that spilled from the ferry.

Reports said MV St. Thomas Aquinas was carrying 831 people—715 passengers and 116 crew members—when it went down just minutes after the collision.