HE saw a large dark object at sea. It wasn’t until it came about 15 meters from the ship that he recognized it was another vessel without lights.
“I was wondering why there was a dark moving object that was coming closer,” said Vicente Largado, a 34-year-old truck driver from Surigao City.
Largado described how he survived the collision, which he compared to the blockbuster movie Titanic.
“It was like the Titanic movie, when the ship was about to sink,” said the passenger of the Saint Thomas Aquinas of 2GO describing the pandemonium on board.
Largado said he was on the first level of the Economy Class charging his phone when he saw the approaching vessel. In that non-aircondition area, he could look out at sea and feel the breeze. Sensing trouble, he started to look for an exit.
Just as the approaching cargo vessel was about to hit the passenger ship, the Saint Thomas Aquinas blew its horn.
Upon impact, the lights went off.
“It was totally dark and the people started to get panic,” he told Cebu Daily News.
Crew members of 2Go advised passengers to stay calm.
Largado said the doors were closed since the crew were allegedly waiting for the final orders. This made passengers more nervous and they started to rush outside using the exit doors.
Life jackets were distributed and emergency boats operations were released but not all were able to get the rescue devices.
Largado showed bruises in his left arm where he hit the exit door as he ran.
Largado and ten of his friends were hired as trailer truck drivers in Manila. They all ran to exits near the rear of the ship as it started to sink. One of his friends remains missing.
Largado, who put on a life jacket, said he saw an old woman standing nervously in the corridor. He said he offered her the life jacket.
The old woman together with two crew members tried to hang on to him for balance as people started running and jumping overboard.
He said the cargo vessel reversed and the passenger vessel broke into half before it sank into the sea, rear first. Largado jumped into the sea as well.
He said he was in the sea for two hours before he was rescued and brought to the Cebu City Medical Center.