39 dead, 10 missing as boat capsizes

MANILA, Philippines – Thirty-nine people, including eight children, died after a motor boat capsized in a freak accident yesterday afternoon off Dimasalang town in Masbate, reports said.

Quoting reports from field units, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sodusta, chief of the army’s 9th Infantry Division based in Bicol, said 76 of the 119 passengers and crew of the M/B Don Dexter Cathlyn were rescued, while 10 remained missing.

But a police report said 14 were still unaccounted for.

It was not yet known if the survivors included the boat’s six-man crew and captain, identified as Dante Bombales.

Sodusta said the Don Dexter, owned and operated by Eduardo Yap of Masbate City, suddenly encountered rough winds shortly after leaving Dimasalang port.

It was bound for Bulan, Sorsogon and was five kilometers off shore when it sank at around 1:20 p.m. yesterday.

Personnel from the Dimasalang police, 9th Infantry battalion and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) rushed to the area to conduct search and rescue operations.

Raffy Alejandro, chief of the regional Office of Civil Defense, said in a phone interview that despite fair weather, waters in the area became rough due to strong winds.

Police Senior Superintendent Ruben Sindac said they recovered 39 bodies, but did not rule out the possibility that there might have been more people aboard.

The PCG immediately dispatched two search and rescue ships headed by Captain Henry Caballero, commander of Coast Guard District Bicol.

They also sent the fast craft Lady Jackeylyn of Leighton and members of the Special Operations Group (SOG) divers to help in the rescue mission.