A FERRY loaded with nearly 200 people capsized off a central Philippine port Thursday, officials said, killing at least 36 people in the country’s latest maritime tragedy.

    At least 26 people are still missing after the 33-ton, wooden-hulled Kim Nirvana tipped over in unexplained circumstances about half an hour after setting sail from Ormoc city at midday, the coast guard said.

    Rescuers pulled more than 100 survivors from the sea and continue to scour the waters about a kilometer from the coast where the accident happened, said Ciriaco Tolibao, an official from the city’s disaster risk reduction and management office.

    “Some clung on to the hull of the overturned vessel, while some were rescued while swimming toward the shore,” Tolibao said.

    Back in Ormoc city, a distraught male survivor wept openly as crew members clad in blue brought him ashore, as others, looking shaken, recounted their ordeal to rescue officials.

    A nearby row of soaked survivors squatted on the pier awaiting attention, while medical workers placed the injured onto stretchers.

    The vessel was carrying 173 passengers and 16 crew members, and was licensed to carry up to 200 people, Tolibao said.

    Many of the passengers were traders bringing farm produce and other merchandise to the Camotes island grouping, whose residents rely mostly on fishing, Tolibao added.

    Philippine coast guard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said 36 bodies had been recovered while 127 people were rescued.(SD-Agencies)