(UPDATE) 32 bodies wash ashore in Masbate, 19 buried
Navy sees 20 more corpses at sea
By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 10:51:00 06/25/2008
Filed Under: Typhoon Frank, Sulpicio ferry disaster
MANILA, Philippines -- Thirty-two bodies, believed to be those of victims of the sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars, were recovered on the shores of San Pascual town in Masbate province, an Air Force official in charge of search operations in the area said.
Nineteen bodies were recovered on Tuesday and 13 others on Wednesday, said Colonel John Estoesta, chief of the Air Force Tactical Operations Group-4, quoting town Mayor Zacharina Lazaro.
Lazaro decided to bury the first 19 bodies in a shallow grave to avoid the outbreak of disease, but pictures of the remains, including identifying marks, were taken, Estoesta told reporters via speakerphone at Villamor Airbase.
The mass graves are located in Iniwaran and San Jose villages, Estoesta said.
Earlier Wednesday, the Navy recovered three bodies on the coast of Burias Island.
The recovered bodies, believed to be passengers of the ill-fated Sulpicio Lines ferry, were found by a reconnaissance aircraft from the United Sates military, that in turn, alerted local authorities, said Navy spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Edgard Arevalo.
The victims, all wearing life jackets, were found on the beach in Palana point early Wednesday morning. One of the three could be a foreigner based on the skin color, Arevalo added.
"Our theory is, they could have jumped from the ship but they did not reach the life rafts," Arevalo said. "They were wearing life vests. They [appeared to have] died struggling, due to hypothermia."
The Navy's Patrol Ship 28, which recovered the three, is sailing to a site 17 nautical miles off Burias Island to recover an estimated 20 more bodies floating on the sea, Arevalo said.
Estoesta also said search teams on board helicopters saw around 20 bodies at sea off Burias Island.
It was not clear whether the two officers were referring to the same group of remains.
The ferry, with 862 passengers and crew onboard, capsized on Saturday off Sibuyan Island in Romblon province at the height of typhoon “Frank” (international codename: Fengshen).
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