Two Filipino fishermen have died and seven are missing after their vessel took on water off the Philippines, the coast guard said Friday, with an open-sea search continuing.
Fourteen of the 23 crew members of the Genesis 2 were rescued by other fishing vessels shortly after the pre-dawn incident on Thursday, 337 kilometres (209 miles) east of the main southern island of Mindanao.
The body of one of the fishermen was retrieved Thursday as the vessel lay half-submerged in the Philippine Sea.
A second body was found early Friday, Dandy Orcales of the Philippine Coast Guard in Davao Oriental province, told AFP.
“We’re still looking for seven (people),” Orcales said. “Five fishing vessels from their company are helping us look for them.”
He said the cause of the accident was under investigation.
The fishing company is based in the southern port of General Santos city.
The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands, has a poor shipping safety record, with scores dying in mishaps at sea each year, usually aboard wooden-hulled outriggers used for fishing or to move people from one small island to another.