Three floating bodies were found as search-and-rescue teams combed the waters of Manila Bay on Thursday for at least 24 people missing after a passenger ferry collided with a fishing boat, AP reported. Forty-six passengers and crew of the wooden-hulled ferry MV Catalyn B were plucked from the water and brought to the coast guard"s Manila headquarters, said coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo. The coast guard alerted all vessels in the area to look for those still missing. A female passenger was seen being carried on a stretcher, while others were led to a clinic for a medical examination. The 13-meter-long vessel, carrying 73 people on a journey from Manila to southwest Mindoro Island, sank shortly after the accident, Balilo said. The ferry had a capacity to carry 126 people. All 22 crew on the fishing boat were safe and it did not sink, said Melvin Viola of the coast guard"s operation center. The cause of the accident off Cavite province"s Limbones island was not clear. No weather disturbances were reported in the area.
