Star Cinema crew aboard SuperFerry still unaccounted for

By NRJ RAMOS
September 7, 2009, 11:47pm

Only 11 of Star Cinema’s 29-strong movie crew who were aboard the recently sunk passenger ship MV SuperFerry have been accounted for, according to reports relayed by the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) Sunday afternoon.

The MV SuperFerry 9 sunk off the Zamboanga Peninsula early Sept. 6.

According to the NDCC, the Iloilo-bound ship was carrying 847 passengers, 113 crew members and 4 sea marshals.

It left General Santos City at 8:45 a.m. Saturday.

As of this posting, the NDCC report 5 passengers dead while 931 have already been rescued.

The NDCC report also said 27 passengers were treated with minor injuries and 20 were sent to the Brent and Zamboanga Doctors Hospitals.

The film crew went to General Santos City reportedly to shoot some scenes for the movie “Tanging Pamilya,” which stars Dionisia Pacquiao and former president Joseph Estrada, among others.

Alvin Desta, one of the passengers and an employee of Star Cinema, in a call to radio station dzMM said many of the passengers were roused from their sleep after they felt the ship tilt a few minutes before 3 am.

At exactly 3 a.m., Tess Fuentes, operations director of Star Cinema, said she received a call saying that passengers had already been given life jackets.

Around 10 a.m., authorities announced that SuperFerry 9 has already sunk in the vicinity of Batarompon Point, west of Zamboanga Peninsula.

The Star Cinema crew brought with them equipment, vehicles and costumes many of which were lost in the tragedy, including a car used by Estrada’s character.

Dionisia, in an interview aired on "TV Patrol" late Sunday, said that she had warned the crew not to go on with the trip based on her gut feel that tragedy was afoot.   

Estrada has appealed to the management of SuperFerry to help the victims.