A ferry carrying 715 passengers and 116 crew members sank after it collided with a cargo ship in the Cebu province of Philippines on Friday, August 16. The death toll hit 55 today, while 65 people remain missing.
CNN reported:
The St. Thomas Aquinas was coming from nearby Butuan City when the collision occurred. The cargo ship, the Sulpicio, which had about 20 people aboard, was leaving Cebu for Davao, a region on the island of Mindanao.
The passenger ferry sank, but not before sending out a distress call heard by Coast Guard officials.
The cargo vessel involved in the crash -- along with navy, Coast Guard and commercial vessels -- helped in the rescue efforts.
Around 58 babies were believed to be on board, but it is unclear how many survived.
Oil slick from the ferry has spread to about 20 percent of the coast.
"We have no livelihood now because no one will buy the fish we haul, with a lot of bodies still in the water and oil in the sea," Ernesto Cabiso, 49, a Cordova fisherman, told Reuters.
