Passenger ferry sinks, 8 killed in Philippines

The officials said the inter-island M/V Blue Water Princess capsized before dawn near southern Luzon Island's Bondoc Peninsula, about 150 kilometers southeast of Manila.

At least eight bodies were recovered and 50 people were rescued, they said, but the exact number of people on board the vessel was unclear.

The Coast Guard said 82 passengers and crew were on aboard the ship, while the military said as many as 256 people were on it.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Rhoderick Parayno said that 13 bodies were recovered and that 129 passengers and all 22 crew members were rescued.

The 484-ton vessel, which left the port of Lucena in Quezon Province on Wednesday and was expected to arrive at the neighboring island-province of Masbate at 5 a.m. Thursday, sank two hours before arrival, the Coast Guard said.

Search and rescue operations by Navy ships and Air Force have been hampered by bad weather there, Parayno said.

''We dispatched two helicopters but found nothing. They had to go back as bad weather set in. Our naval vessel is already en route to the area,'' he said.

Typhoon Man-yi is now in the Pacific and is heading for southwestern Japan, but the Coast Guard ruled out it is the possible cause of the accident, noting that no warning for the typhoon has been issued in the area. The Coast Guard is looking into possible human errors.//Kyodo