23 Dead, Six Missing As Boat Capsizes In Philippine Lake

A small passenger boat capsized in a lake near the Philippine capital on Thursday, killing 23 people on board and leaving six missing, rescuers said

Manila, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jul, 2023 ) :A small passenger boat capsized in a lake near the Philippine capital on Thursday, killing 23 people on board and leaving six missing, rescuers said.

The accident happened in the early afternoon at Laguna lake, near Manila, hours after Typhoon Doksuri had swept out of the northern Philippines.

The wooden outrigger "encountered strong winds prompting all passengers to panic and (go) to the port (left) side," a coast guard statement said.

"The boat had clearance to sail. There was no more storm in the area," coast guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo told reporters.

The passenger boat was making its regular run from the municipality of Binangonan to the island of Talim in the middle of the lake, municipality rescue official Kenneth Cirados told AFP.

Rescuers retrieved 23 bodies from the water and there were 40 survivors, he said.

"The boat sank in front of us while on its way home to the island," said Binangonan resident Frederic Sison, who had been standing at the Kalinawan port when the incident happened.

Rescuers were scouring the lake for the six people still missing hours after the accident, Cirados said.