Philippine ship sinking death toll rises to 71

As six more bodies were retrieved, the number of people died in the shipwrecks in the Philippine central province of Cebu increased to 71, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) announced on Wednesday.

The six cadavers recovered by technical divers Wednesday morning included four female adults and two children, PCG said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the number of missing went down to 49, and rescued passengers and crewmen were pegged at 750.

Underwater retrieval operations for passengers trapped inside MV St. Thomas Aquinas that sank off Talisay City in Cebu last Friday were again hampered by inclement weather Tuesday, according to the military sources.

Navy spokesman for the central command Gregory Gerald Fabic said technical divers resumed their efforts at around 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday but they have to suspend it at around 10 a.m. owing to bad weather.

Passenger ship MV St. Thomas Aquinas collided with MV Sulpicio Express 7 cargo ship in Talisay city of Cebu last Friday night. The pessenger ship, carrying 870 people on board, sank after the collision.