5 more remains found in Princess wreck

Five more remains were recovered Wednesday from the M/V Princess of the Stars that sank off Romblon province almost two years ago, the Philippine Coast Guard said. The skeletal remains were found in Section Deck C at the right side of the 23,000-ton passenger ship, according to Vener Balsamo, project engineer of the salvage operations being conducted by the ship’s new owner, Royal Jessan Petromin Resources Inc. (RJPRI). It was Balsamo who informed Coast Guard officials of the discovery. Only one of the remains yielded documents that could help in the identification. A total of 548 passengers and crew perished in the incident that took place June 21, 2008 off Sibuyan Island during the onslaught of typhoon Frank. The ill-fated vessel was owned by Sulpicio Lines Inc. and was sold to RJPRI late last year. The bodies were discovered while divers from RJPRI were tearing up the ship to be turned into scrap metal. Part of the agreement in the sale of the wreck was for Sulpicio Lines to take responsibility in identifying the bodies that will be found in the course of the salvage operations. Sulpicio Lines operations head Jordan Go said he has yet to receive information about the discovery of five more bodies. - KBK, GMANews.TV