Philippines - ferry accident

Philippine passenger plucked from shark-infested waters

Article published on the 2009-09-07 Latest update 2009-09-07 14:26 TU

A survivor is helped onto a stretcher after the Superferry9 disaster
(Credit: Reuters)

A woman passenger on the Superferry 9 vessel which sank Sunday morning was miraculously rescued Monday after surviving more than 24 hours in shark-infested Phillipine waters, according to the Philippine Navy. Lita Casunglon was plucked from the sea by air force rescuers some 15 kilometres from where the ferry sank.

Of the 968 people officially aboard the Superferry 9, nine died and one is still unaccounted for. The quick response of commercial vessels, the coastguard and the military helped to account for a low death toll in the accident.

There could have been more people on board than on the manifest, however, which means that some passengers may still be missing.

Philippine boats are known to not list all passengers on their manifest, even though this is an illegal practice.

"Somebody must definitely be punished, whoever may be held for this mishap," said Presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo.

"We have to ensure that this will not happen again," she added.

In a separate incident, the Philippine coast guard rescued four South Koreans and 15 Philippine sailors after their cargo ship, the MV Hera, sank off Eastern Samar.