Bodies of 3 more boat passengers found in Basilan seas

COTABATO CITY, February 2 ------ Three more passengers, including a prominent member of a large non-government organization, of the M/V Trisha Kirsten 3, which sank in the territorial seas of Basilan, were found by rescuers.

Provincial officials in Basilan and the mayor of the island town of Hadji Muhtamad, Arsina Kahing Nano, separately confirmed on Sunday, February 1, that rescuers recovered on Saturday the bodies of four-month-pregnant Dernalyn Muarip, her daughter Sharfa, an elementary pupil, and Reckmar Abtong.”

The M/V Trisha Kirsten 3 was sailing from Zamboanga City Port to Jolo town in Sulu when it sank near Hadji Muhtamad before dawn on January 26.

Rescuers from the office of Basilan Governor Mujiv Hataman, the Hadji Muhtamad local government unit, the Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine Navy, and the Western Mindanao Command have so far recovered the bodies of 40 passengers from the M/V Trisha Kirsten 3 and rescued 316 others, who are now undergoing stress debriefing and psychological interventions by experts from various government agencies.

Nano, who as mayor also serves as chairperson of the multisectoral Hadji Muhtamad Municipal Peace and Order Council, reported that the recovery of the bodies of the Muarips and Abtong on Saturday brought the death toll in the sea mishap to 40.

Abtong, a member of the Junior Chamber International, was well known in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao for having served as the organization’s president for Sulu and later as vice president for the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Employees of the Basilan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and local executives in Hadji Muhtamad, just two miles from where the M/V Trisha Kirsten overturned and sank, told reporters on Sunday that the bodies of the Muarips and Abtong were immediately transported to Zamboanga City by personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard. The remains of the Muarips were later shipped to Sulu, according to Basilan provincial officials.

Source: philstar.com