Passengers scrambled for rafts on doomed ferry

By Manny Mogato

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines (Reuters) - Passengers and crew pushed and shoved for precious space on life-rafts minutes before Princess of the Stars capsized in typhoon-whipped waters in the central Philippines last weekend.

But Jesus Gica was wise enough not to join the fray.

After seeing how overloaded the dinghies were, the truck driver figured he'd have more luck jumping straight into the water.

"There was chaos and confusion," Gica, 41, told Reuters from his home in Mandaue city, on the central island of Cebu, on Thursday.

"Children were crying, the women were screaming and most of the men were rushing to leave the ship."

When the seven-storey passenger ferry left Manila on Friday night, conditions were calm.

Typhoon Fengshen was forecast to sweep the east of the archipelago and swing back out into the Pacific Ocean. Instead, it lurched westward, right through the centre of the country towards the ferry with gusts of up to 195 kph (121 mph).

On Saturday morning, the weather turned ferocious and waves taller than the near-24,000 tonne vessel slammed into the ferry. In the lower-deck economy cabins, people took to their beds.

A crew member ordered everyone to put on life-vests. Less than half an hour after the vessel started listing, it capsized.

In the stampede for life-rafts, most of the women, children and elderly were left behind.

"They were afraid to leave because of the strong winds and gigantic waves. They all went down with the ship," said Gica.

"I wore two life vests and waited for the water level to rise before jumping into the water," he said.

Dozens of people were floating all around him but each time a wave smacked in, fewer and fewer of them would return to the surface.

He grabbed on to a piece of wood and held on for six hours before he was washed ashore. A fisherman fed him and gave him warm clothes.

"This is my second life. I owe it to God for giving me the strength and faith to survive," he said.