Philippine miracle survivor found

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Philippine ferry survivors pulled from sea

Naval officials in the Philippines say a female passenger on a ferry that sank on Saturday night has been rescued after more than 24 hours in the water.

Rear Admiral Alexander Pama said Lita Casunglon was in a stable condition, despite her harrowing ordeal.

Nearly 1,000 people were on board the Superferry-9, when it sank near the southern Philippines city of Zamboanga.

In a rare record of recovery, more than 900 people have been confirmed as safe and just nine bodies recovered.

The coastguard is still searching the area. Only one of the passengers is still unaccounted for.

'Miraculous'

A Philippine air force helicopter plucked Ms Casunglon, 39, to safety after she had been drifting for about 30 hours in choppy seas after the sinking of a ferry.

I just prayed. I thought of my family Lita Casunglon, disaster survivor

She was found bobbing with a life jacket about 13km (8 miles) from where the ferry sank.

Rear Admiral Pama, who helped supervise the rescue, called it "a miracle".

"She has been drifting amid huge waves for a long time without any food or water," he said.

"She's very lucky she survived," he added, noting that the tropical waters of Zamboanga were notorious for being infested with sharks.

Weakened and suffering a sore throat Ms Casunglon told reporters she had lost her money but found two small crabs in her pocket after her rescue.

"I just prayed. I thought of my family," she said.

Rescue record

PHILIPPINES' WORST FERRY DISASTERS 1987: More than 4,300 people die when the Dona Paz ferry collides with an oil tanker off Mindoro island - the world's worst peacetime shipping disaster 2008: More than 800 people killed when the Princess of the Stars ferry capsizes during a typhoon 1988: Dona Paz's sister ship, Dona Marilyn, sinks off Leyte province, killing 250-300 people 1998: The Princess of the Orient ferry sinks near Batangas province, killing 150-200 people 1994: About 140 people die when a freighter hits the Cebu City ferry in Manila Bay 2004: A fire aboard the Superferry 14 kills 116 people near Manila Bay. Abu Sayyaf claims it planted a bomb on board In pictures: Philippines ferry sinks

Her survival has spurred the continuing massive air, land and sea search for the lone missing passenger.

The unusually high number of people rescued from the sinking ferry has been attributed to the presence of other ships in the area.

They sped to the scene within an hour of the sinking, as parents were throwing children into the dark seas, hoping to hit lifeboats, and as passengers dived overboard.

Within two hours, navy ships and helicopters were scouring the area for survivors.

"When our assets arrived, people were floating everywhere," regional military commander Maj Gen Benjamin Dolorfino said.

A special coast guard ship has been deployed to check signs of an oil spill, officials said.

In a separate rescue operation on Monday, the coast guard hauled to safety four South Korean sailors and 15 Filipinos from a life raft after their cargo vessel, the MV Hera, also sank.

The crew members had been drifting for several hours in their life raft before they were rescued.