31 dead, 62 rescued as boats capsize in Philippines’ Guimaras Strait
- Three are still missing after huge waves swamped the ferry boats
- Six of the dead were yet to be identified, the rest being Filipinos
Regional police spokesman Joem Javier says the dead were mostly passengers of two ferries that flipped over in sudden gusts of wind and powerful waves Saturday off Guimaras and Iloilo provinces. In total, 62 other passengers and crew were rescued.
Javier said on Sunday a third ferry, which was not carrying any passengers, also capsized in the Iloilo Strait but its four crewmen survived.
Forecasters have warned of heavy monsoon rains, thunderstorms and rain-triggered landslides amid a tropical depression more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) off the country’s eastern coast.
All three vessels plied the short 20-minute hop between the port city of Iloilo and the island of Guimaras, with two of the accidents happening almost the same time around noon, forcing the coastguard to temporarily shut down ferry services.
Services resumed in the afternoon, which was when the third boat capsized, the coastguard said.