By ERWIN MASCARIÑAS
Correspondent .
SURIGAO City – Seventy people were rescued after a commercial motorized banca sank in the waters off Dinagat Island on Wednesday afternoon, a coast guard official said.
Coast Guard-Surigao del Norte deputy commander Joefrey Monta said all the 62 passengers and eight crew members of the motor banca named Gencyryll 2 were rescued.
There was no casualty or injury report.
Monta said the boat left Pantalan Uno along the boulevard here at around 12 noon, and headed to Barangay Puerto Princesa in Basilisa town and then to Barangay Osmeña, Libjo.
Monta said the Coast Guard sub-station in Basilisa received a report from a barangay councilor that a boat was sinking off the coast of one of the town’s villages at around 1:30 pm.
“We immediately deployed our speedboat towards the area,” said Monta.
He said Gencyryll 2’s sister-boat, Gencyryll 4, was on its way to Barangay San Roque in Tubajon town and was already a few minutes behind Gencyryll 2 after it left Surigao City.
Monta said the crew of Gencyryll 4 responded and rescued the passengers and crew of their sister-boat. He added that minutes later, several smaller fishing boats from Catadman also pitched in the rescue and boarded some of Gencyryll 2’s passengers.
“While we have been experiencing habagat for the past few days, the weather and the waters were calm when the accident happened,” he said.
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