Rescuers still hope to find ferry survivors in Phillippines

Rescuers are looking at boring a hole in the hull of a capsized ferry in a desperate attempt to find survivors amid fears that more than 800 passengers and crew may have died as Typhoon Fengshen carved an erratic, deadly swath through the Philippines.

Hopes dwindled by the hour that large groups of survivors might be found in areas where communications were cut off by the storm that left 163 people dead in flooded communities.

Divers rapped on the hull of the 23,824-ton Princess of Stars but heard no response from inside.

Only 38 wave-battered survivors have been found so far, including 28 who drifted at sea for more than 24 hours in life jackets before they were found yesterday about 80 miles to the north in Mulanay township, in eastern Quezon province.