The fate of 134 people missing from a burnt-out ferry in the Philippines remained a mystery on Tuesday after rescuers found no bodies or survivors inside its half-submerged hulk, the coast guard said.
Coast guard chief Vice-Admiral Arturo Gosingan said salvage teams had nearly finished inspecting the bowels of the Superferry 14, which was consumed by flames after an explosion early on Friday in Manila Bay.
He said the coast guard now hoped the missing passengers had been rescued by fishing vessels that responded to the ferry’s distress call but had not bothered to report back to the authorities.
President Gloria Arroyo said in a statement the operations ”will not be called off until we are sure that there are no more bodies inside the ill-fated passenger ship”.
However, she continued to dismiss claims that Muslim rebels the Abu Sayyaf had planted a bomb on the vessel and could identify the bomber.
”The truth behind this incident is emerging: no terrorists, no missing bodies,” Arroyo said in a statement.
But the British government in an advisory cautioned its citizens against travelling to much of the Philippines, noting that ”there continue to be threats against Western interests and there is a danger of collateral damage from terrorist attacks targeted at others”.
The advisory noted that terrorist groups like the Abu Sayyaf ”have threatened to attack passenger ferries and other vessels”.
The 10 192-ton Superferry 14 was en route to the central Philippines with 899 people people on board when it caught fire.
More than 700 people were rescued and one passenger was confirmed killed.
”We already made a half-sweep and 70% of the ship has been searched,” Gosingan said. ”There are no signs of life, but there are also no dead bodies. So far we only found debris.”
Gosingan said many of the cabins had collapsed and investigators had yet to sift through a heap of debris lying on the ship’s starboard, the part still under water.
He said a faint stench of death could be detected although it could not be certain whether there were bodies underneath.
The Abu Sayyaf identified one of its members, Arnulfo Alvarado, as having planted a bomb aboard the ferry. The rebels said Alvarado was listed as passenger 51 in the ferry’s manifest.
Gosingan said the manifest showed that passenger 51 was a woman and that the name Alvarado was not on the list.
Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza said probers ”found no trace of explosion” such as twisted metal or shrapnel of signs of chemical powder.
He belittled the Abu Sayyaf as a ”dying organisation” that only wanted to take advantage of the huge media interest in the incident. — Sapa-AFP