'Miracle' rescue from sunken ferry.9/8/2009 6:50:27 AM A woman survivor from the ferry sinking in the Philippines has been rescued after spending more than 30 hours drifting in the sea. Lita Casumlum was found in shark-infested waters late on Monday about 15km from where the Superferry 9 went down, Philippine rescue officials said. Nine people were killed in the accident on Sunday, but almost all of the nearly 1,000 who were on board were rescued. One person remains missing. Rear Admiral Alex Pama, who helped supervise the operation, called Casumlum's rescue "a miracle". Although weak, Casumlum spoke to reporters in a military hospital in southern city of Zamboanga, recalling how the ferry "tilted so we started to disembark dis·em·bark v. dis·em·barked, dis·em·bark·ing, dis·em·barks v.intr. 1. To go ashore from a ship. 2. To leave a vehicle or aircraft. v.tr. , first my husband then I. I just had to grope my way." "I just prayed and prayed," she said. Search efforts continue An air, land and sea search will continue for the lone missing passenger, and a special coast guard ship has been deployed to check signs of an oil spill oil spill: see water pollution. , officials said. Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo, the coast guard chief said an investigation will begin later this week to find out why the vessel sank off the southern province of Zamboanga del Norte Zamboanga del Norte is a province of the Philippines located in the Zamboanga Peninsula region in Mindanao. Its capital is Dipolog City and the province borders Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay to the south and Misamis Occidental to the east. . Tamayo also said other passenger ferries of the Aboitiz Transport System, which owned the sunken sunk·en v. Obsolete A past participle of sink. adj. 1. Depressed, fallen in, or hollowed: sunken cheeks. 2. vessel, will be confined to port so that their seaworthiness sea·wor·thy adj. sea·wor·thi·er, sea·wor·thi·est Fit to traverse the seas: a seaworthy freighter; a seaworthy crew. could be checked. The Superferry 9 set sail from General Santos in the south on Saturday and was headed to Iloilo city The City of Iloilo (Hiligaynon: Ciudad sang Iloilo; Filipino: Lungsod ng Iloilo) is the capital city of the province of Iloilo in the Philippines. It is the regional center and the main economic hub of the Western Visayas region. in the central Philippines. Officials said on Monday that the successful rescue effort was largely due to help given by two passing cargo ships and military planes and gunboats who are based about 70km away from where the ferry sank. 'Not terrorism' Tamayo said there was no sign that terrorism played any part in the sinking. Fighters from the Abu Sayyaf group bombed another Superferry in Manila Bay Manila Bay, nearly landlocked inlet of the South China Sea, SW Luzon, the Philippines. About 35 mi (56 km) wide at its broadest point and 30 mi (48 km) long, it is the best natural harbor in E Asia and one of the finest in the world. in 2004, setting off a fire that killed at least 116 people. Last year, a ferry rapidly overturned after sailing toward a powerful typhoon typhoon: see hurricane. in the central Philippines, killing more than 800 people on board. In December 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker, killing more than 4,341 people in the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster. Aljazeera.net 2003 - 2009 Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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