Wind-tossed boat with dozens of people aboard overturns in Philippines, search and rescue underway

MANILA, Philippines –

A Philippine passenger boat carrying dozens of people, including children, overturned Thursday after being lashed by strong wind in a town southeast of Manila and search and rescue efforts were underway, the Coast Guard said.

The MBCA Aya capsized when its passengers moved to one side of the boat in panic when it was battered by fierce wind about 46 metres (151 feet) from Kalinawan village in Binangonan town in Rizal province, the coast guard said.

The Coast Guard said it was trying to validate social media reports of dozens of passengers being rescued or drowning.

Typhoon Doksuri moved away Thursday after battering the northern Philippines and enhancing seasonal monsoon rains in a large swath of the archipelago. At least nine people were killed, mostly due to landslides, flooding and toppled trees and thousands were displaced, disaster response officials said.

Sea travel was suspended in many ports during Doksuri’s onslaught from Tuesday to Wednesday, stranding thousands of passengers and cargo trucks. The no-sail orders were gradually lifted Thursday as weather improved in many areas.

Coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo said the passenger boat had been cleared to sail from Binangonan town to nearby Talim island because the typhoon had blown out of the country.

At least four northern provinces remained under cyclone wind alert, banning fishing boats and smaller vessels from venturing out to sea. Rains, however, continued to swamp several towns and cities farther south, including in the densely populated capital region, metropolitan Manila, which lies to the west of Rizal province.

Sea accidents are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained boats, overcrowding and weak enforcement of safety regulations. In December 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker, killing more than 4,300 people in the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster.