11 Feb 2012

300 now feared dead in PNG ferry sinking

1:45 pm on 11 February 2012

It is now feared that more than 300 people lost their lives in the ferry sinking in Papua New Guinea.

The MV Rabaul Queen sank in rough seas near the end of a 20-hour journey from Kimbe to PNG's second largest city, Lae, on 2 February.

Charlie Masange of the Morobe Provincial Disaster Management Office says the number of people rescued has been re-calculated as 237.

He says new information from relatives of those onboard puts the number of people missing at 321.

Mr Masange says it was up to the ship's captain to restrict the number of passengers to the 310 it was permitted to carry.