The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, San Fernando

Divers having difficulty removing bodies from a capsized ferry were forced to use heavy weights to help pull the dead out of the upside-down vessel, Philippine officials said Thursday.

The bodies had floated to the top of the submerged cabins and compartments on the seven-story ferry, Coast Guard Commodore Luis Tuason said. Divers were struggling to pull the bloated bodies through narrow, debris-filled corridors to exit the vessel. It remains unclear how many of the 850-plus passengers and crew were trapped when the 23,824-ton Princess of the Stars suddenly listed and went belly up in a half-hour or less during a powerful typhoon Saturday, leaving just the tip of the bow jutting from the water. Only 56 survivors have been found, while 124 bodies have been recovered after washing ashore or spotted floating in the sea, some in life jackets, Coast Guard Commander Danilo Avila said.

The ferry disaster could raise Typhoon Fengshen's death toll to more than 1,300, with 329 people confirmed dead from flooding and landslides and more than 200 missing.

The aftermath of the storm kept rescue workers away until calm conditions Tuesday allowed divers to slither inside the ferry for the first time.

More than 100 divers, including eight U.S. military frogmen, were at the site, some working through the night Wednesday in the hope that some passengers could have found an air pocket and survived.