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.

Only two deaths were confirmed yesterday, and New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said one was a British citizen who had a New Zealand driver’s license on him. A Tongan official had earlier identified the dead man as from New Zealand.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd indicated the toll was expected to rise much higher.

“There has been considerable loss of life,” said Rudd “Our thoughts and our prayers are with the families of those that have been affected by this great tragedy.”

The Princess Ashika overturned about midnight on Wednesday some 85km northeast of the capital, Nuku’alofa, officials and a witness said.

The ferry was on its way from Nuku’alofa to outlying islands in Tonga’s north. It sank in 115 feet (35 metres) of water in a location that made rescue efforts difficult, Tongan Police Commander Chris Kelly said.

Kelly said late yesterday that two bodies had been retrieved and 53 passengers and crew rescued.

Survivor Siaosi Lavaka told the Matangi Tonga news website that: “No women or children made it.”

Lavaka, whose mother was among the missing, said he woke to find the ferry rocking violently and waves breaking over the

The rocking apparently moved cargo to one side of the vessel, unbalancing the ferry and turning it over, he said.

Tongan Transport Minister Paul Karalus said: “It appears that those passengers who were inside the vessel in cabin-type accommodation did not actually gain exit; only those who were outside – hence the number of males as opposed to the number of females rescued.”