SANTA FE, Philippines -- Dozens of people were still missing today as volunteers joined the Coast Guard and the military in a search for survivors of a ferry accident in the central Philippines.
Authorities said at least 618 people had been rescued from the MV Asia South Korea, which sank early Thursday near Bantayan Island off the northern tip of Cebu Island, about 300 miles southeast of Manila. Officials said at least nine people died in the accident.The bodies of a boy and girl, both wearing life jackets, washed ashore today on an island near the accident site. It was unclear whether they were part of the official nine dead.
"There is still a big possibility that we'll be able to find more survivors," said Lt. Cmdr. William Melad of the Coast Guard operations center in Manila.
Some of those still unaccounted for may have been rescued by small fishing boats, which did not immediately report to authorities, he said.
Meanwhile, Coast Guard cameramen were ordered to take pictures of the ferry as an investigation into the accident got underway.
Coast Guard spokesman Cmdr. Ramon Liwag said the ferry's chief mate, Saturnino Flores, told investigators two loud bangs were heard below the engine room before the lights in the ferry went out early Thursday.
The captain immediately ordered the distribution of life vests and the launching of life rafts. Moments later, the crew reported that water was rushing quickly into the bottom of the hull, causing the ship to list, Flores said.
Most of the survivors were rescued by three cargo ships on the day of the accident, but an undetermined number of people were also found alive today. Among them was a 21-year-old student who was found on a reef about 20 miles away from where the ferry sank.
Some had been flown by air force helicopters to hospitals for treatment. One of them, 16-year-old Vanessa Alonzo, had to be carried by stretcher after she broke her left foot jumping into a life boat as the ship sank.
"We panicked," she said. "The boat tilted and in less than 30 minutes, it sank. I thought I wasn't going to make it to Christmas. I waited thinking there might still be hope, but I jumped when I saw others jumping out of the ship. I thought I would not survive."
Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, owner of the 2,840-ton Japanese-built ferry, said it had 606 passengers and 52 crew members -- many returning home for the Christmas holidays -- when it set sail.
But Maj. Gen. Santos Gabison, chief of the military's central Visayas command, said more people were on the ferry than officially listed, since many people bought tickets after boarding.
Gabison said authorities were scouring nearby islands for any people that swam to safety. "We will continue the search until everyone is found," he said.
Passengers and crew drew their own conclusions about what happened.
Hansel Benedict Arriva, an apprentice mate on the ferry, said the accident occurred when the ship struck a rock after entering shallow waters. The crash punched a hole in the ship's hull, causing the engine and generator to stop, he said.
Others suspected overcrowding could have been the cause. Vegetable trader Juanito Alferes Jr., 43, who travels frequently on the ferry, claimed the crew hid the extra passengers while authorities conducted an inspection before giving clearance for the ferry to sail.
But Trans-Asia spokesman Jonji Gonzales dismissed the claim. "We will never sail if we are overloaded," he said.
Cmdr. Franklin Llanto, the Cebu Coast Guard district chief, said the ferry's departure had been delayed by about three hours after inspectors found it carried 80 passengers more than its allowed maximum of 614.
Ferries are the main form of transportation among the Philippines' more than 7,000 islands, but overcrowding and accidents are common. In the world's worst peacetime shipping disaster, the Dona Paz ferry collided with a tanker on Dec. 20, 1987, killing 4,341.