23 rescued from sinking boat in Quezon

LUCENA CITY, Quezon—At least 23 persons aboard a sinking passenger boat were rescued by the crew and passengers of another vessel in the seas off Infanta town in Quezon province on Tuesday afternoon.

Spot report from Infanta police station said the passengers from the MB Recto bound for Barangay (village) Calasumanga in Panukulan town in Polillo Island were all safely rescued by those aboard a passing Syvel 5, also bound for the same municipality.

The dramatic rescue was recorded in video from a mobile phone camera taken by one of the passengers of Syvel 5 Tatiana Nolledo, an elementary school teacher in Panukulan.

Nolledo’s video which she posted on Facebook has since gone viral and earned over 512,000 views and 11,000 shares as of 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Nolledo said MB Recto left Dinahican port around 2:30 p.m. and followed by their boat 15 minutes later.

The rescue operation lasted for about an hour after which the Philippine Coast Guards arrived and helped in bringing back the rescued sea voyagers back to the port.

Police report also said the passenger boat sank because water entered it. Investigation is still ongoing.