MANILA, Philippines — Rescue teams battled strong waves and winds Tuesday to search for 28 passengers missing after their small overcrowded ferry overturned in rough seas in the northeastern Philippines, officials said.
Four more bodies — three girls and a boy — were retrieved near the mouth of the Cagayan River where the wooden-hulled Maejan capsized after an eight-hour journey Sunday, pushing the death toll to 27, said coast guard spokesman Lt. Gary Dale Gimotea.
Most of the 46 survivors swam to shore in Aparri town in Cagayan province, about half a mile from the site of the accident, he said.
The ferry was traveling from Calayan islands in the Luzon Strait when it encountered strong waves and currents that broke its bamboo outrigger, causing it to flip.
