Divers are struggling to retrieve dozens of bodies trapped inside a Phillippine passenger ferry that capsized Saturday during Typhoon Fengshen.
Phillippine coast guard officials said Thursday some 100 Phillipine and U.S. divers are having difficulty removing bodies from the upturned ferry because most of its submerged passageways are blocked by debris.
More than 850 passengers and crew were on board the Princess of the Stars when it sank off the central island of Sibuyan. Only 56 survivors have been found.
Officials have recovered some 124 bodies which either had washed ashore or were spotted floating in the sea. The number of bodies remaining in the vessel is unclear.
Philippine transportation authorities have banned the ship's owner, Sulpicio Lines, from operating while they conduct an investigation.
Sulpicio is one of the largest ferry operators in the Philippines and it has been involved in three other disasters. In 1987, its Dona Paz ferry collided with a tanker, and more than 4,000 people died.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
