More than 30 feared dead after ferry flips in high seas

AN overnight ferry packed with sleeping passengers flipped in heavy seas near the Pacific island nation of Tonga, leaving more than 30 people missing and feared dead, officials said yesterday.

Rescuers who plucked more than 50 survivors from the water were hopeful of finding more clinging to wreckage strewn over a wide area.

Authorities could not immediately say exactly how many people were aboard the ferry when it sank, but said it could be as many as 96 – raising the possible number of missing to more than 40.