Rescuers braved rough seas today searching for survivors of a Philippine ferry that capsized with 845 passengers and crew during a typhoon that has killed scores and left a trail of destruction.
So far, only four people are known to have survived the sinking of the MV Princess of Stars.
Four people have been confirmed dead but most of the passengers and crew remain missing. According to the ship's manifest, there were 20 children and 33 infants on board.
A coastguard ship is trawling the waters around the 23,824 gross tonne vessel, which is upside-down with only its bow above the waves.
A relative of a ferry passenger awaits the latest news at the office of Sulpicio Lines in the central city of Cebu
The vessel sank three kilometres from Sibuyan island in the centre of the archipelago.
The head of the coastguard said there were lots of small islands where survivors could be sheltering.
"I'm hopeful that more passengers and crew have reached the shore," Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said, adding that two more rescue boats would be dispatched as soon as the weather improves.
The vessel's owner, Sulpicio Lines, said the ferry was en route to Cebu from Manila. Dozens of relatives, some in tears, crowded into the offices of Sulpicio Lines in the central city of Cebu, looking for information.
Typhoon Fengshen, with maximum gusts of 195 km/h has killed at least 85 people in central and southern Philippines, including 59 in Iloilo province, where floodwaters submerged whole communities.
In Iloilo, the local government feared the death toll from the typhoon could rise as tens of thousands of people remained marooned on the roofs of their submerged houses.
"Iloilo is like an ocean. This is the worst disaster we have had in our history," Governor Neil Tupaz told local radio.
In neighbouring Capiz, more than 2,000 houses were destroyed in the provincial capital and officials were struggling to make contact with communities further afield.
After pelting Manila with torrential rain and winds today, Fengshen is expected to exit the northern part of the country by tomorrow en route to Taiwan, where it could make landfall in the next few days.