21 dead and 40 rescued after a wind-tossed boat overturns in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — At least 21 people died and 40 others were rescued after a Philippine passenger boat overturned Thursday when it was lashed by strong winds in Laguna Lake southeast of Manila, police said.

Police said rescue operations were continuing, but did not immediately provide figures for the total number of people on board the MBCA Aya when it capsized in Rizal province.

The boat capsized when its passengers moved to one side of the boat in panic when it was battered by fierce winds about 46 meters (about 150 feet) from Kalinawan village in Binangonan town, the coast guard said.

The Rizal provincial police said it immediately launched a search and rescue operation with the help of the coast guard and other local authorities and at that least 40 people were saved but 21 others drowned.

“The operation is still ongoing for the possible rescue of other passengers,” the Rizal police said in a statement. It did not provide other details like how many passengers and crewmembers were onboard the boat when it overturned, but police promised to provide updates.

Typhoon Doksuri moved away Thursday after battering the northern Philippines and enhancing seasonal monsoon rains in a large swath of the archipelago.

The boat sinking brought the death toll from stormy weather to at least 30. At least nine people were reported killed earlier, 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.