Call for help in search for Philippine ferry survivors
Updated
![The ferry capsize comes amid floods and landslides across the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Fengshen. [AFP]](http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/img/news/base/phils_typhoon_afp_220608.jpg "The ferry capsize comes amid floods and landslides across the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Fengshen. [AFP]")
The ferry capsize comes amid floods and landslides across the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Fengshen. [AFP]
Rescuers in the Philippines are calling for more ships and aircraft to help search for survivors from a ferry that capsized with more than 700 people on board.
The Princess of the Stars was hit by Typhoon Fengshen as it passed over the central Philippines on Saturday.
Only 32 survivors have been found so far.
Richard Gordon from the Philippines Red Cross is hopeful more will be rescued:
"Many of them were wearing life jackets because the abandoned ship signal was made about quarter to twelve on that fateful day and a lot of them were wearing life jackets so hopefully we can still find them alive," he said.
Relatives of the missing are demanding an investigation, saying ferry operators must have known the typhoon was coming.
The operation of other vessels of the passenger shipping line has been suspended pending investigation.
Many more dead or missing
The Red Cross and civil defence say some 598 people are now reported dead or missing after Typhoon Fengshen - and that figure does not include passengers and crew from the capsized Princess of the Stars ferry.
Other reports says landslides, severe flooding and the loss of dozens of fishing boats have left at least 200 dead and many more missing, mostly in central areas which bore the brunt of the storm.
More than 60,000 people are in evacuation centres on the central island of Negros, after flash floods and landslides forced them to flee their homes.
Typhoon Fengshen slammed into the central Philippines late Saturday before changing course and moving north across much of the archipelago.
The government weather station says it left through the northwestern side of the main island of Luzon, moving northwest at 15 kilometres per hour towards southern China.
