Chemicals stop Philippines ferry recovery
Updated
![The upturned hull of the MV Princess of the Stars lies off central Sibuyan island. [Reuters]](http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/img/news/base/phils_ferry_rtr_230608.jpg "The upturned hull of the MV Princess of the Stars lies off central Sibuyan island. [Reuters]")
The upturned hull of the MV Princess of the Stars lies off central Sibuyan island. [Reuters]
Search and retrieval operations for the passengers and crew of a capsized ferry in the central Philippines have been temporarily halted.
As Shirley Escalante reports from Manila, poisonous chemicals have been discovered in the ship's cargo.
Officials say divers will have to extricate hazardous pesticides in the capsized MV Princess of the Stars before underwater search and retrieval operations can continue.
Philippine Navy Commandant Wilfredo Tamayo says only a surface search of the missing passengers and crew of the shop will be conducted for the timebeing.
A container van loaded with ten metric tons of toxic pesticides used for growing pineapples has been discovered in the ship's cargo.
Health officials say there is yet no indication of a leakage of the pesticide but warn it is hazardous to health and could be fatal upon contamination.
The Philippine Coast Guard reports 124 people killed and 82 survivors in the sea tragedy, but they expect the numbers to increase. The ship sank a week ago amid stormy weather broight by Typhoon Fengshen.
Civil defence chief Anthony Golez says the ferry was carrying a shipping container packed with insecticides when it went down during Typhoon Fengshen on Saturday.
Mr Golez says authorities will launch legal proceedings against the ferry's operator, Sulpicio Lines, for not informing them of the toxic cargo.
