MANILA, Philippines - The number of recovered bodies in San Pascual town and Burias Island both in Masbate province has risen to 60, the spokesman for the Philippine Navy said Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said the bodies were found in different locations: three at Palana Point, another 50 at 17 nautical miles off Burias Island and seven in San Pascual town.
Arevalo said the recovered bodies have been turned over to proper authorities for disposition. He, however, could not say whether the bodies were of those the passengers of the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars which capsized off Sibuyan Island in Romblon over the weekend.
At present, Arevalo said the availability of cadaver bags and other substances pose a problem in the recovery efforts.
"Their (rescuers') problem is cadaver bags...coordination is being made for the availability of more or less 150 cadaver bags and substances to arrest or minimize (the) stench of the cadavers they are getting," Arevalo said.
Earlier in the day, an Air Force official said 32 bodies recovered also in San Pascual town have for the past two days have been buried to avert a possible outbreak of disease.
Air Force Col. John Estuesta said that residents of San Pascual town retrieved 19 bodies on Tuesday and 13 bodies the day after, citing reports of local officials.
Estuesta, also a commander of the PAF tactical operations group IV, said the bodies have been buried in a mass grave to prevent disease since the corpses were already decomposing. - GMANews.TV