Hundreds Are Feared Dead in Philippines

Divers Enter Ferry Capsized by Storm; Toll Mounts Elsewhere

MANILA, June 24 -- Divers entered a huge capsized ferry on Tuesday but reported finding no survivors among the bodies inside, Philippine officials said, all but dashing hopes that some of the more than 700 people still missing from the weekend catastrophe would be found alive.

Lt. Cmdr. Inocencio Rosario Jr. of the Philippine coast guard, one of the first two divers to get inside the ferry, said that he and his partner found three bodies in their hour in the water, fighting strong currents the entire time. Rosario said that they entered the vessel at 60 feet below sea level, but that most of its cabins are about 40 feet deeper.

Navy divers soon took over the search, and Philippines Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said that the ship's interior was too dark to get a good count of how many bodies were being found.

"Most of the bodies were floating inside. They were trapped when the seven-story ship suddenly tilted and capsized," he told dzBB radio, the Associated Press reported.

Arevalo said some bodies had life vests but many passengers had apparently hesitated to jump into the "turbulent waters" before the ship capsized because "it happened too sudden." Survivors have said the ship listed and went down in no more than 30 minutes in stormy waters off Romblon Island in the central Philippines.

Typhoon Fengshen, which roiled the seas, has also been blamed by Philippine authorities for hundreds of other people dead or missing on seas and islands.

The storm, which on Monday was heading toward the southern coast of China, destroyed houses, roads and bridges and swept away crops. It sank an unknown number of fishing boats in the cluster of islands in the Visayas region in the central Philippines, according to local reports.

The number of known survivors from the MV Princess of the Stars ferry rose Monday to 57, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said. Some of those people told of floating for hours in rough seas as they sheltered in life rafts or clung to life rings and floating debris.

The ferry was carrying more than 800 passengers and crew members when it sank Saturday in stormy waters off Romblon Island in the central Philippines. On Monday, the underside of its bow showed above the waves.

Among the ferry survivors were 28 people who reached Luzon Island on a life raft. Six others were found on Sibuyan Island, said Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo of the Philippine coast guard.

The coordinating council confirmed 20 passengers dead, with 16 bodies washed ashore.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is in the United States on a 10-day working visit, conferred by teleconference Monday with government officials back home, demanding action and accountability in the ferry sinking, officials said. She also sought U.S. help in dealing with the disaster.