The World - News from Jan. 5, 1989
A crowded Philippine ferry carrying more than 140 people--mostly students returning to school after the holidays--capsized, leaving 16 people dead and 12 missing, the coast guard said. Coast guard Lt. Edmund Lustre said the Jem II sank off Tablas Island on Tuesday afternoon when it was hit by big waves during a voyage from the Tablas port of Looc to neighboring Panay Island. Lustre said 114 people were rescued. He said the exact number of people aboard was not known. Radio reports said the passengers panicked when the large waves struck the vessel and rushed to one side, causing the ferry to capsize.
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