Murder charges filed against ferry owner and crew after sinking

Saturday, 06 Jul, 2015 0

Philippine authorities have filed murder charges against the owner and entire crew of a ferry which capsized and claimed the lives of 56 passengers.

The Kim Nirvana ship sank soon after leaving port in Ormoc City, Leyte, and police investigators said statements from surviving passengers indicated the ship turned abruptly, possibly causing heavy cargo to shift.

Charges were brought against 19 people including operator Joge Bong Zarco, captain Warren Oliviero, and 17 crew members, said regional police head Asher Dolina.

"We filed the charges as soon as we could because we don’t want the suspects to leave the country," Dolina said.

Authorities said 145 survivors have been accounted for.

Investigators said the ship began listing after taking a sharp right turn and put the sinking down to a combination of human error and overcrowding.

The ferry was heading to the Camotes Islands in Cebu province.

Overcrowding and poor safety standards are common on Philippine ferries, which are an essential mode of transport in an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands.

Meanwhile Sunday saw the cancellation of some ferry services and several flights caused by Tropical Storm ‘Egay.’

Northern Luzon was hit by 95 kilometre per hour winds with carriers Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines grounding flights in and out of Manila.

Bev

Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.

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