Philippine ferry body search may take a month: official

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

MANILA (AFP) — Divers Thursday prepared to smash their way into a stricken Philippine ferry containing hundreds of bodies as officials warned it may take a month to recover the corpses with just three pulled out so far.

As concern grew over the slow pace of recovery efforts, divers gathered tools to break through doors and windows of the Princess of the Stars, whose passage ways have been blocked by debris since it went down on Saturday.

Poor visibility and strong undercurrents have also hampered some 100 US and Filipino divers, who have spotted but been unable to reach dozens of bodies.

"It will take a month to retrieve all the bodies," coast guard spokesman Jansen Benjamin.

"Divers have sighted many bodies but have not been able to retrieve them as...