A passenger ship carrying 359 people sank off the Philippines, killing 18 and leaving 24 missing.

On the 26th (local time), survivors of the passenger ferry MV Trisha Kerstin 3 receive help from rescuers at Isabela Port in Basilan Province, the Philippines. The ferry sinks in waters off the southern Philippines, leaving many dead and missing as rescue operations continue. /Courtesy of AFP=Yonhap News

According to Reuters, AP, AFP and India's Times Now News on the 26th (local time), at about 1:50 a.m. that day the passenger ship "MV Trisha Kerstin 3" sank in waters off Basilan province in the southern Philippines.

At the time of the accident, a total of 359 people were on board, including 332 passengers and 27 crew, and 317 of them were rescued by the Philippine Coast Guard. The rescued survivors were transported for treatment to places including Isabela province on Luzon island near the accident site.

Eighteen people were confirmed dead, and 24 remain missing. Philippine authorities are deploying military aircraft and vessels to search for the missing while also investigating the cause of the accident.

The sunken passenger ship had departed the southern Mindanao island port city of Zamboanga at about 9:20 p.m. the previous day and was heading to Jolo island in the Sulu Sea.

Ronnie Gil Gavan, a Philippine Coast Guard official, said, "The ship's maximum passenger capacity is 350," and noted, "It was not overloaded at the time of the accident." The Coast Guard believes a technical problem occurred during the voyage, causing the ship to sink.

Some survivors said the ship suddenly sank after a hole opened in the hull and that the sea was rough at the time. Video shared on social media (SNS) showed some passengers wearing life jackets floating in the sea before being rescued.

Basilan Gov. Mujiv Hataman posted on Facebook images of rescued survivors disembarking from boats or being carried barefoot on stretchers under blankets. In a local radio interview, he said, "Most of the survivors are in good condition, but some of the elderly and infirm need first aid."

In the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands, maritime accidents occur from time to time due to poor vessel maintenance or noncompliance with safety regulations. In July 2023, a passenger ship sank off Binangonan in Rizal province near Manila, killing 27, and in 1987 the passenger ship Doña Paz collided with an oil tanker and sank, leaving 4,341 dead in the country's worst maritime disaster.

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