Under questioning by authorities, the skipper acknowledged that the ferry had exceeded its passenger capacity when it left port, Abu said.
The skipper said only 22 passengers were aboard the ferry at first but the number swelled when more people desperate for a ride arrived. The passengers had been stranded for days after stormy weather forced the suspension of ferry services earlier this week, Abu said.
“On his way back to the boat, he said that he saw far too many people have gone onboard and he could no longer convince them to disembark,” Abu said. “Those who were stranded had insisted on staying onboard.”
Shortly after leaving port, the Aya Express was pummeled by strong winds which caused the passengers to panic and rush to one side of the boat. The vessel tilted and its outrigger broke, causing it to capsise just 46m from shore, police and coast guard officials said.
“This is really a tragic event that has to be investigated,” coast guard Rear Adm. Hostillo Arturo Cornelio said on Thursday night at a news conference.
Investigators will look into reports that many of the passengers were not wearing life vests as required by safety regulations, Cornelio said.
The boat accident brought the death toll from a week of stormy weather across the main island of Luzon to 39.
In addition to the 26 ferry deaths, Typhoon Doksuri left at least 13 people dead, mostly due to landslides, flooding and toppled trees.
Twenty people remained missing, including four coast guard personnel whose boat overturned Wednesday while on a rescue mission in hard-hit Cagayan province.
Source: CNA
