MANILA, May 29, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Rescuers searched waters off the Philippines
on Sunday for seven people missing after a collision between a fishing boat
and a cargo ship, authorities said.

The Philippine fishing vessel and Marshall Islands-flagged MV Happy Hiro
collided Saturday east of Palawan Island, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

The fishing boat capsized and sank in the Sulu sea, coast guard spokesman
Commodore Armando Balilo said.

Thirteen of its 20 crew members were plucked from the water by another
fishing boat before being transferred to the Happy Hiro.

They suffered minor injuries.

The coast guard deployed rescue teams from nearby stations to scour the
waters for the seven missing crew members.

The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands, has a poor
maritime safety record.
 
Mishaps and overcrowding are common on vessels that are often wooden-hulled
outriggers used for fishing or transporting people.

On Monday, seven people were killed and 127 were rescued after a fire ripped
through a ferry and forced passengers to jump overboard.

The 186-person capacity fast craft boat was about a kilometre from Real, in
Quezon province on the main island of Luzon, when the blaze started.