By Bullit Marquez
The Associated Press
 AP Photo/Bullit Marquez A U.S. Navy diver joins the search and rescue operation for the sunken passenger ferry in central Philippines Wednesday. More than 800 passengers remained missing. |
SAN FERNANDO, Philippines — Divers having difficulty removing bodies from a capsized ferry were forced to take photographs of the dead so anguished relatives could identify their loved ones, Philippine officials said Thursday.
The bodies have floated to the top of submerged compartments on the seven-story ferry that went down Saturday as Typhoon Fengshan tore across the Philippines, Coast Guard Commodore Luis Tuason said.
Divers were having trouble pulling the buoyant bodies through corridors and out of the vessel, so weights were sent to the scene to help draw them down through the water, he said.
It remains unclear how many of the 850-plus passengers and crew were trapped when the 23,824-ton Princess of the Stars suddenly listed and went belly up in a half-hour or less, leaving just the tip of the bow jutting from the water.
Only 56 survivors have been found so far, while 124 bodies have been recovered after washing ashore or spotted floating in the sea, some in life jackets, Coast Guard Commander Danilo Avila said.
The disaster could raise the storm’s death toll to more than 1,300, with 329 people confirmed dead from flooding and landslides and more than 200 missing.
The storm’s aftermath kept rescue workers away until calm, sunny conditions Tuesday allowed divers to slither inside for the first time.
While the divers have only found bodies so far, officials were still unwilling to give up hope of finding a pocket of air where people could have survived, so divers worked through the night. More than 100 divers, including eight U.S. military frogmen, were at the site, and one was being treated for possible decompression sickness.
Tuason said divers were taking photos of the bodies from several angles so relatives could help in the identification process.
Relatives have questioned why the ship was allowed to leave Manila late Friday for a 20-hour trip to Cebu with a typhoon approaching. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered a thorough probe and said she hoped to find ways to avoid similar accidents in the future.
Sulpicio Lines said the ferry sailed with coast guard approval. Debate began anew on safe-sailing rules in a country prone to storms - Fengshen was the seventh typhoon this year - and dependent on ferries to get around the sprawling archipelago.
Associated Press writers Teresa Cerojano and Jim Gomez in Manila contributed to this report.