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Sixty three people are still missing

REUTERS

MANILA. Nine hundred passengers were plucked from a sinking ferry off the Philippines on Sunday, officials said, but at least five people were killed and rescuers were scouring the waters for 63 more who were still missing.

The rescued passengers were brought ashore by other ships, and the Philippine authorities said they hoped some of those still missing had been rescued by a fleet of fishing vessels and small boats that also came to the stricken ferry's aid.

"The search and rescue is still continuing, coastguard vessels are still there scouring the area," Commander Armand Balilo, Coastguard spokesman, told local radio.

The "SuperFerry 9" vessel was carrying more than 960 passengers and crew when it set off from General Santos City, on the southern island of Mindanao, for the central city of Iloilo.

It began listing early on Sunday morning, prompting authorities to sound a general alert and rush rescue vessels to the area, coastguard commander Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo told reporters.

The weather was clear at the time, but the crew had reported problems with the generator, Tamayo said.

Officials said they would investigate what caused the ferry's sinking, but a situation report from the government's disaster coordinating council said the incident may have been caused by a hole in the ferry's hull.

"We got a report to that effect but until the Board of Marine Inquiry finally establish what really happened, we cannot say so," Glenn Rabonza, head of the disaster agency, said in the report.