September 20, 2012
MANILA (AFP) - Seven people died, including two children, and five were left missing after a small ferry sank off the southern Philippines, the civil defence office said on Thursday.
The boat, carrying 27 people, was travelling between islands in the country's southernmost Tawi-Tawi chain when it went down in rough waters late on Tuesday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
Two girls, aged four and eight, were among the dead, the council said. The identities of the others who died are still being confirmed.
Small, wooden ferries are a major form of transport in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands. However the often poorly maintained vessels frequently have accidents during bad weather.
