A ferry with nearly 700 people aboard sank near the central Philippine port of Cebu on Friday after it collided with a cargo vessel, killing at least 17 people, the Associated Press reported. MV Thomas Aquinas, the captain of the ferry, ordered the ship abandoned after it began listing, which caused it to sink, coast guard officer Joy Villegas.
"It seems some were not able to get out. I pity the children. We saw dead bodies on the side and some being rescued," passenger Jerwin Agudong said. "One of the persons who jumped with us hit his head on metal. He is shaking and he is bloodied."
There have been other accidents in the Philippine archipelago due to frequent storms and badly maintained boats. In 2008, for instance, the ferry MV Princess of the Stars capsized during a typhoon in the central Philippines, which killed nearly 800 people.
The ferry Dona Paz in 1987 sank while colliding with a fuel tank, which killed more than 4,341, seen as the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster.
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