Bodies of 10 fishermen recovered off Masbate

NAGA CITY—Coast Guard personnel recovered the bodies of 10 fishermen on the western coast of Masbate over the weekend and on Monday, dimming hopes that their nine other companions were still alive.

“We will continue with the search until the missing have been recovered,” Captain Tranquilino Paiton, commander of the Coast Guard in Bicol, said in a phone interview.

The fishermen were among the 32 crew members of the fishing boat Hope Christy, which capsized in the Sibuyan Sea off Masbate on July 27 due to strong winds spawned by Tropical Storm “Juaning.” Thirteen were rescued on July 27 and had since returned to Roxas City in Capiz.

Helicopters and two Coast Guard ships were still scouring the waters for those unaccounted for.

Paiton said one of the 10 bodies was found on Monday morning in Barangay Panubigan in Balud town and six were retrieved the day before in the waters off Balud (four in Ubo village and two in Dao village).

On Saturday, two bodies were recovered—one in Barangay Guincaiptan in Mandaon and the other in Barangay Poblacion, Balud. One body was found on Friday in Barangay Maolingon, also in Mandaon.

The Office of Civil Defense in Bicol said the storm’s death toll across Bicol reached 37 as of Monday.