passengers missing

A Philippine ferry with more than 700 people on board capsized during a typhoon and most are missing, officials said on Sunday.

Rescuers were trying to reach the scene where the MV Princess of Stars sank near Sibuyan island in the centre of the country but churning waves from Typhoon Fengshen made the crossing hazardous.

"The ship is upside down. We are waiting for rescuers but there are none so far. Our pump boats are all broken," Ricardo Aligno, a town councilor from the coastal village of San Fernando, told local radio.

The coast guard expected one of its ships to arrive in the area by early afternoon. The ferry sank about three kilometers from shore.

Local mayor Nanette Tansingco told radio that three survivors had been found.

But at least four others aboard are known to have died.

The bodies of two women and some children's' slippers were washed ashore. Before dawn on Sunday, some villagers heard warning sirens from the ship, which had 626 passengers and 121 crew on board.

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