7 killed, 5 missing as boat sinks off Tawi-Tawi–military

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Seven persons were killed – three of them children – when a wooden hulled motorized boat capsized off Simunul in Tawi-Tawi, the Navy reported Thursday.

Navy Captain Rene Yongque told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by text message the boat was cruising for Bongao from Sampoerna in the Indonesian part of Borneo when it capsized around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

He said they only learned of the incident when four boat passengers reached Bongao after swimming for hours.

Yongque said a subsequent operation launched on Wednesday evening resulted in the rescue of eight more victims and the recovery of the dead passengers.

First posted 10:01 am | Thursday, September 20th, 2012

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