Ferry Carrying 870 Crashes Into Cargo Ship

A ferry with over 800 passengers and crew on board has sunk after colliding with a cargo ship near the Philippine city of Cebu.

The coastguard said the MV Thomas Aquinas listed after hitting the Sulpicio Express Seven Cargo vessel and the captain gave the order to abandon ship.

Officer Joy Villegas said the collision occurred on Friday evening close to the shore. The ferry was travelling from Cebu to Manila.

At least 24 people including children were confirmed dead, 572 were rescued and 274 were still unaccounted for, the coastguard said.

Two rescue vessels were dispatched and other boats helped to get passengers out of the water.

Danny Palmero, a former fisherman, said he was with friends who responded to the ferry's distress call and rescued seven people on their motorized outrigger canoe.

"I saw many flares being shot," he said. "As a former nautical student, I knew it was a distress signal."

Rachel Capuno, a security officer for the ferry's owners 2Go, told Cebu radio station DYSS that the vessel was sailing into port when it collided head-on with the cargo ship.

Some of the rescued passengers

"The impact was very strong," she said, adding the ferry sank within 30 minutes of the collision.

Hundreds of passengers jumped into the ocean as the ship began sinking, said survivors. Many were asleep at the time of the collision.

Jerwin Agudong said he and other passengers leapt overboard after the ferry began taking on water and the crew distributed life jackets.

He told radio station DZBB that some people were trapped and he saw bodies in the water.

"It seems some were not able to get out. I pity the children. We saw dead bodies on the side, and some being rescued," he said.

"One of the persons who jumped with us hit his head on metal. He is shaking and he is bloodied."

According to news reports, an 11-month-old baby was among those saved.

Accidents at sea are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations.

In 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the Philippines, killing 4,341 people in the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster.

In 2008, the ferry MV Princess of the Stars capsized during a typhoon, killing nearly 800 people.

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