Missing motor banca located near Bataan

(Updated) A wooden motor banca carrying at least 10 passengers earlier reported missing was found off Bataan on Sunday night, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. A GMA Flashport said M/B Lucky Agnes, which was reported missing at past 10 a.m. Saturday, was located near Poblacion in Mariveles, Bataan on Saturday night. All passengers of the motor banca have already been brought to safety, the report said.
Cdr. Troy Cornelio, PCG Batangas station commander, said the private motor banca left Lubang Island in Mindoro on Saturday morning, and was bound for Mariveles, Bataan when its hull cracked and began taking in water. The PCG officer said his station got a distress signal from one of the banca’s passengers, who said they were off the coast of Nasugbu Island in Nasugbu, Batangas province. Rescuers from the Coast Guard, however, did not find the motor banca upon their arrival in the area, according to Cornelio. The Coast Guard is set to investigate why the seacraft was carrying passengers, when it is a motor banca supposedly registered as a fishing vessel.—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV