Hundreds Are Feared Dead in Philippines

A U.S. Navy ship was to depart from Okinawa, Japan, to help Philippine navy ships, helicopters and planes that are scouring islands and islets for survivors.

The Philippine Red Cross said 141 people were known dead in the storm, at least 93 of them killed in Iloilo province by drowning or electrocution in a flash flood caused by the opening of the Maasin Dam.

Gwendolyn Pang, Red Cross deputy secretary general, said floodwaters of an intensity "not seen since 1943" rose to rooftop levels, ripped up houses made of light materials and knocked down power lines. She said the typhoon affected 22 provinces and at least 241,000 people across the country.

Pang said 255 people, almost all of them fishermen, were missing in Negros Occidental province. In Masbate, an island province east of Romblon, at least 35 people were found dead, a mayor told local radio.

At least 20 people were reported missing in Central Mindanao. In the nation's capital, Manila, floodwaters forced many families to evacuation centers.

Initial government estimates placed damage to property at the equivalent of about $37 million, with roads and bridges destroyed in Central Luzon and Western Visayas. In Marinduque, north of Romblon, rice land was severely damaged and cornfields were wiped out.

As of 5 p.m. Monday, the typhoon had weakened as it moved toward southern China with maximum sustained winds of about 69 mph near the center and gusts of up to almost 90 mph, according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

The Princess of the Stars, the largest inter-island ship of its type, sailed Friday evening from Manila, where storm warnings were in effect, and headed for Cebu Island. Officials were debating Monday whether it should have been allowed to go.

Renato Lanurias, 35, a janitor aboard the ship, said that at 11:45 a.m. Saturday, the captain gave orders to prepare to abandon ship. "We waited at our station. At exactly 12 noon, he told us to abandon ship. Then I jumped to the water.

"The water was very cold. The wind was strong. The wave was strong. The rain was strong," Lanurias said in a telephone interview.

He said his hope did not dim even when the three people who were holding on to a single doughnut-shaped lifesaver disappeared in a huge wave while floating off Romblon Island on Saturday.

"I held on to my life raft and prayed to God. I prayed that He let me live, so I could reach my dream," Lanurias said. "It is my dream to send my children to school."

The government is set to investigate the sinking, with some officials calling for the revoking of the business license of Sulpicio Lines.

The company also owned the MV Doña Paz, which sank in 1987 in the Tablas Strait, killing close to 4,000 people.