Death toll rises to 7 in RP squalls

Death toll rises to 7 in RP squalls

PHILIPPINES: Rescuers have retrieved the bodies of four more fishermen who drowned after squalls struck fleets of fishing boats in the northern Philippines, bringing the death toll to seven, officials said on Tuesday.

Twenty-one fishermen remain missing in the South China Sea off the western coast of Luzon island, although the government continues to hold out hope they may still be alive.

Four bodies were recovered either at sea or on beaches in the past 24 hours, the civil defense office here said.

More than 180 others were rescued earlier and reunited with their families.

More than 200 fishermen aboard small fishing vessels set sail from several northern Luzon ports under calm waters late on Friday.

But rough weather stirred up huge waves that engulfed their vessels a day later, survivors said. Many of those rescued were found unconscious and drifting in the sea using pieces of wood from their fishing boats. -- AFP