Hundreds rescued from deadly ferry disaster in Philippines
[January 26, 2026]
By JIM GOMEZ
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A ferry with more than 350 people on board
sank early Monday near an island in the southern Philippines. Rescuers
have saved at least 316 passengers and retrieved 15 bodies, officials
said.
The M/V Trisha Kerstin 3, an inter-island cargo and passenger ferry, was
sailing from the port city of Zamboanga to southern Jolo island in Sulu
province with 332 passengers and 27 crew members when it apparently
encountered technical problems and sank after midnight, coast guard
officials said.
The ferry sank in good weather about a nautical mile (nearly 2
kilometers) from the island village of Baluk-baluk in Basilan province,
said coast guard Commander Romel Dua.
“There was a coast guard safety officer on board and he was the first to
call and alert us to deploy rescue vessels,” Dua said, adding that the
safety officer survived.
One of the rescued passengers, Mohamad Khan, said that the ferry
abruptly tilted to one side and took on water, hurling people including
him and his wife, who was holding their 6-month-old baby, into the sea
in the darkness. He and his wife were rescued, but their baby drowned.
“My wife lost hold of our baby and all of us got separated at sea,” a
distraught Khan told a volunteer rescuer, Gamar Alih, who posted a video
of Khan’s remarks on Facebook.
As Khan narrated their ordeal, his wife wept.
Alih, a village councilor from Zamboanga city, told The Associated Press
that he volunteered to help in the search and rescue because some of his
relatives were among the ferry passengers. They all survived.
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Rescued passengers from M/V Trisha Kerstin, 3 an inter-island cargo
and passenger ferry that sank, on a boat around waters of Isabela
City, Basilan Province, Philippines on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (Kagawad
Gamar "Gams" Alih via AP)
Coast guard and navy ships, along with a surveillance plane, an air
force Black Hawk helicopter and fleets of fishing boats were
carrying out search and rescue operations off Basilan, Dua said.
Basilan Governor Mujiv Hataman said several passengers and two
bodies were brought to Isabela, the provincial capital, where he and
ambulance vans waited.
“I’m receiving 37 people here in the pier. Unfortunately two are
dead,” Hataman said, speaking by by cellphone from the Isabela pier.
The coast guard said 316 passengers had been rescued and at least 15
bodies found.
The cause of the ferry sinking was not immediately clear and there
will be an investigation, Dua said, adding that the coast guard
cleared the ferry before it left the Zamboanga port and there was no
sign of overloading.
Sea accidents are common in the Philippine archipelago because of
frequent storms, badly maintained vessels, overcrowding and spotty
enforcement of safety regulations, especially in remote provinces.
In December 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a
fuel tanker in the central Philippines, killing more than 4,300
people in the world’s deadliest peacetime maritime disaster.
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