8 teachers rescued at sea

Tacloban City — Eight public school teachers were rescued by the Philippine Coast Guard Friday night after the engine of their boat conked out under heavy rain in rough seas churned up by Tropical Storm Butchoy.

The eight teachers from Birawam National High School in Daram town, Samar, boarded the pump boat to Catbalagon City, also in Samar, about 3 p.m. on Friday even if storm Signal No. 1 was hoisted over Eastern Visayas.

Shortly after leaving the port of Daram, the boat developed engine trouble, said Joel Baring of the Coast Guard Station in Catbalogan City. He said the husband of one of the teachers went to the Coast Guard station to report what had happened to the boat.

A Coast Guard rescue team found the pump boat around 8 p.m. Friday about three nautical miles from Catbalogan. It took 30 minutes to transfer the passengers and  crew to the Coast Guard vessel.

“They told us  strong winds and heavy rains were battering their small craft and they were all crying for fear that the boat would capsize,” Baring told the Inquirer.

He said the teachers and two crew members of the unregistered motorized boat were safe  in their respective homes.

Meanwhile, about 60 passengers bound for Luzon  have been stranded at the port in Allen town, Northern Samar, since Friday afternoon after vessels were barred from sailing because of the storm, which had intensified into a typhoon yesterday.

“They will only be allowed to leave the port once the weather condition improves,” said Exequiel Dumaguin, operations officer of the Office of the Civil Defense in Eastern Visayas. /INQUIRER