Typhoon Lashes Philippines, Ferry Capsizes

Thirty-eight wave-battered survivors from a capsized ferry made it to shore but hundreds more were feared dead after a powerful typhoon cut a violent path through the Philippines, triggering desperate rescue efforts Monday.

The death toll in flood-swollen communities rose to 163, police said, but most of the 747 passengers and crew of the ferry that ran aground then tipped over in stormy seas Saturday were still unaccounted for.

The 23,824-ton Princess of Stars was traveling from Manila to Cebu when it ran aground a few miles (kilometers) off central Sibuyan island then capsized, said Mayor Nanette Tansingco of Sibuyan's San Fernando.

Coast guard frogmen who managed to get to the stricken ship got no response when they rapped on the hull with metal instruments late Sunday, then had to give up for the night due to strong waves. They hoped to get inside on Monday, possibly with U.S. assistance requested by the Philippine Red Cross.

There were no details what kind of assistance was being discussed.

Vice Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo, the coast guard commander, said rescuers may have to bore a hole on the ship to allow access for divers.

Tamayo said 28 more survivors were found in Mulanay township in eastern Quezon province late Sunday - about 80 miles (130 kilometers) from Sibuyan. Ten others struggled to shore earlier.

Manila's DZBB radio said the 28 people, including four crewmen and three women, drifted at sea for more than 24 hours wearing life jackets.

Officials were checking reports that a large number of survivors might have reached one nearby island, coast guard spokesman Cmdr. Antonio Cuasito said.

Survivor Reynato Lanoria, a janitor on the ship, estimated about 100 people could have escaped the vessel, but thought the others were trapped inside. Lanoria said he was on the top deck when a crew member ordered people to put on life vests around 11:30 a.m. Saturday. About 30 minutes later, the ship began tilting so fast that elderly people and children fell on the slippery deck.

After the storm stymied earlier attempts to reach the ship and kept aircraft at bay, a rescue vessel battled huge waves and strong winds to approach Sunday, more than 24 hours after the ferry lost radio contact.

"They're scouring the area. They're studying the direction of the waves to determine where survivors may have drifted," coast guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo said.

The typhoon lashed the central Philippines early Saturday, setting off landslides and floods, knocking out power and blowing off roofs.

In the province of Iloilo, Gov. Neil Tupaz said 59 people drowned, with another 40 missing. "Almost all the towns are covered by water. It's like an ocean," Tupaz said.

Overall, hundreds were listed missing.

Packing sustained winds of 74 miles (120 kilometers) per hour and gusts of up to 93 mph (150 kph), the typhoon shifted course Sunday to the northwest and battered Manila at dawn, dumping heavy rain on the capital. Major streets were flooded, and numerous traffic lights were out.

Anthony Golez, deputy chief of the Office of Civil Defense, said the storm took an erratic path and never slowed down when it hit land with huge deluges of rain.

The typhoon-prone Philippines was the scene of the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster when the ferry Dona Paz sank in 1987, killing more than 4,341 people.