ASSOCIATED PRESS
A boy tried to catch a passenger jeep yesterday on a flooded road in Manila after Typhoon Fengshen blew through.
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Storm stymies attempts to rescue ferry victims
Typhoon Fengshen has left widespread damage in several Philippine provinces
By Paul Alexander
Associated Press
MANILA » Rescuers considered boring a hole in an overturned ferry today in a desperate attempt to find survivors among more than 800 missing passengers and crew, after Typhoon Fengshen carved its deadly swath through the Philippines.
Hopes dwindled that large groups of survivors might be found in areas where communications were cut off by the weekend storm that left 163 people dead in flooded communities. Divers rapped on the hull of the 23,824-ton Princess of Stars but heard no response from inside.
Only 38 wave-battered survivors have been found so far, including 28 who drifted at sea for more than 24 hours in life jackets before they were found yesterday about 80 miles to the north in Mulanay township, in eastern Quezon province.
But bodies were washing up on shore to the west and northwest, too. The coast guard said it was checking a survivor's report that at least one group of people, dead and alive, had been spotted bobbing in the sea.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
An anxious relative wept today outside the Sulpicio Lines terminal in Manila as she awaited word on a ferry that capsized.
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A number of coast guard and navy ships swarmed to the area but were largely kept at bay by big waves in the still-roiling waters. A U.S. Navy ship was being dispatched from Okinawa.
Officials initially reported 747 passengers and crew were aboard the ferry, but said today that it was carrying about 100 more.
While some relatives tearfully waited for news, others were angry that the ship was allowed to leave Manila late Friday for a 20-hour trip to Cebu with a typhoon approaching. Debate began anew on safe-sailing rules in a country prone to storms - Fengshen was the seventh typhoon this year - and dependent on ferries to get around the sprawling archipelago.
The ship ran aground around noon Saturday a few miles off central Sibuyan island, then capsized.
Survivor Reynato Lanoria, a janitor on the ship, estimated about 100 people could have escaped the vessel, but thought the others were trapped inside. Lanoria said he was on the top deck when a crew member ordered people to put on life vests around 11:30 a.m. Saturday. About 30 minutes later, the ship began tilting so fast that elderly people and children fell on the slippery deck.
After the storm stymied earlier attempts to reach the ship and kept aircraft at bay, a rescue vessel battled huge waves and strong winds to approach yesterday, more than 24 hours after the ferry lost radio contact.
"They're scouring the area. They're studying the direction of the waves to determine where survivors may have drifted," coast guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo said.
The typhoon lashed the central Philippines early Saturday, setting off landslides and floods, knocking out power and blowing off roofs.
In the province of Iloilo, Gov. Neil Tupaz said 59 people drowned, with another 40 missing. "Almost all the towns are covered by water. It's like an ocean," Tupaz said.
Overall, hundreds were listed as missing.
Packing sustained winds of 74 miles per hour and gusts of up to 93 mph, the typhoon shifted course yesterday to the northwest and battered Manila at dawn, dumping heavy rain on the capital.