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SCMP Reporter

At least 36 people were killed after a passenger ferry with 173 passengers and 16 crew capsized in rough waters in the central Philippines today, a disaster monitoring official said.
Local radio station Radyo Inquirer said today that rescue operations were under way after the 33-tonne, wooden-hulled MV Kim Nirvana overturned in Ormoc, in the Visayas region, about 950 kilometres southeast of Manila.
Coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo said 127 people have been rescued. Local radio station Radyo Inquirer said the coast guard had taken the captain of the ferry into custody.
The authorities were puzzled how the accident had happened in relatively calm waters, after initial reports of choppy seas, and discounted speculation that it was overloaded. “There wasn’t any storm or any gale. We’re trying to find out [why it  happened],” said a local official leading rescue operations.
He said the boat’s outriggers apparently broke in the accident, and added it was possible the crew had committed a navigational error.

Rescue boats picked up dozens of survivors who clung to the overturned hull of the ferry which capsized about one kilometre from Ormoc port, Ciriaco Tolibao, from the city’s disaster risk reduction and management office said.
It set sail at around midday and was just 30 minutes into the journey when tragedy struck. It was on its normal route to the islands, which sit about an  hour’s sail from Ormoc city.
Divers were scouring the murky waters searching for survivors from inside the ship, he said. “Some [survivors] clung on to the hull of the overturned vessel, while some were  rescued while swimming toward the shore,” Tolibao said.
A report on Manila radio said 21 people were missing, while the coast guard spokesman put the figure at 19.

The coast guard confirmed that it was engaged in search and rescue activities but could give no further details of the operation. Just a small section of the boat’s underbelly, surrounded by rescue boats,  was visible above water by late afternoon.
Back in Ormoc City, a distraught male survivor wept openly as crew members clad in blue brought him ashore. Others, looking shaken, recounted their ordeal to rescue officials.
A nearby row of soaked survivors squatted on the pier awaiting attention,  while medical workers placed the injured onto stretchers. Tolibao said at least 53 survivors were brought to the hospital while more than two dozen others walked home. 
MV Kim Nirvana was licenced to carry up to 200 people, disaster risk official Tolibao said.
Many of the passengers were traders bringing farm produce and other merchandise to the Camotes island grouping, whose residents rely mostly on fishing, Tolibao added.
Ormoc and the rest of Leyte island was ravaged by Super Typhoon Haiyan  which struck in November 2013.
Poorly maintained, loosely regulated ferries are the backbone of maritime  travel in the sprawling archipelago.
But this has led to frequent accidents that have claimed hundreds of lives in recent years, including the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster in 1987 when the Dona Paz ferry collided with an oil tanker, leaving more than 4,300 dead.
The last major ferry disaster in the country was in August 2013, when the St Thomas Aquinas ferry carrying 831 passengers and crew collided with a cargo ship in a dangerous choke point near the port of Cebu, the Philippines' second-biggest city. More than 70 people drowned.
The cargo ship, Sulpicio Express 7, which had 36 crew members on board, did not sink. It was owned by Philippine Span Asia Carrier, whose ships had been involved in four other tragedies.
More recently, in September 2014, the Maharlika II ferry carrying 58 people sank at nightfall after encountering steering problems off Southern Leyte province. Hours after leaving port, the vessel was battered by huge waves and fierce winds whipped up by a typhoon to the north.
It had been cleared for the journey as nearby provinces reported clear weather.
Survivors recounted being tossed around in the churning sea in darkness for six hours, clinging to a life raft before a passing ship rescued them. Eight people died.
Watch: Dozens dead in Philippines ferry capsize

With additional reporting from Associated Press


At least 36 dead after Philippine ferry capsizes in calm waters just 1km from port

A survivor of a passenger ferry that capsized in rough waters cries after arriving at the pier in Ormoc City, central Philippines. Photo: AFP

Rescue operations continue in waters off Ormoc City, Leyte province. Just a small section of the boat’s underbelly, surrounded by rescue boats,  was visible above water by late afternoon. Photo: EPA

The MV Kim Nirvana ferry sank just a kilometre from the port of Ormoc, Leyte. Photo: AFP

A survivor is brought on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance in Ormoc, where the passengers had boarded an ill-fated ferry to Camotes Island. Photo: AFP

Survivors of a passenger ferry that capsized in rough waters, including foreigners, sit on the ground after being rescued at the pier in Ormoc City, central Philippines. Photo: AFP

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Captain of ship reportedly taken into custody by coastguard


At least 36 people were killed after a passenger ferry with 173 passengers and 16 crew capsized in rough waters in the central Philippines today, a disaster monitoring official said.


Update | At least 36 dead after Philippine ferry capsizes in calm waters just 1km from port

Captain of ship reportedly taken into custody by coastguard