January 26, 2026 | 10:17 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – A ferry carrying more than 350 people capsized off the coast of Basilan province in the southern Philippines and sank, killing at least seven people, officials reported, as reported by Al Jazeera.
The accident occurred just after midnight on Monday, January 26, 2026, when the passenger ship, MV Trisha Kerstin 3, was en route to Jolo Island in southern Sulu province, after departing from the port city of Zamboanga.
The Philippine Coast Guard said the ship had 332 passengers and 27 crew members on board.
Coast Guard Commander Romel Dua of the Southern Mindanao District told DZBB radio that 215 people had been rescued and seven bodies recovered. Meanwhile, search and rescue operations are ongoing for the 144 others still missing.
Dua said an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident.
Arsina Laja Kahing-Nanoh, mayor of Basilan province, said in a Facebook post that there were at least "eight confirmed fatalities" in the ferry sinking. She posted a video of coast guard personnel rescuing several people and lifting bodies from the water onto boats.
In a separate video statement, Kahing-Nanoh added that rough seas and darkness were hampering search and rescue operations.
Basilan's emergency response officer, Ronalyn Perez, said that "at least 138 people" had been rescued so far.
"The challenge here really is the number of patients that are coming in. We are short-staffed at the moment," Perez said, adding that 18 people had been taken to a local hospital.
The PCG said rescue efforts were ongoing.
Dua, the coast guard commander in Mindanao, said the cause of the ferry sinking was unclear and would be investigated. He added that the coast guard had inspected the ferry before leaving Zamboanga port, and there were no signs of overloading.
Maritime accidents are common in the Philippine archipelago due to frequent storms, poorly maintained vessels, overcrowding, and inconsistent enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.
On Friday, at least two Filipino sailors were reported dead, and 15 others rescued, after a Singapore-flagged general cargo ship en route to China from the southern island of Mindanao sank. Four other sailors remain missing.
In December 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker off the central Philippines, killing more than 4,300 people in the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster.
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