238 Saved, 112 Still Missing in Ferry Wreck

No bodies yet found in Papua New Guinea wreck
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 3, 2012 10:10 AM CST
238 Saved, 112 Still Missing in Ferry Wreck
Three life rafts from the MV Rabaul Queen float above the sunken hull of the ferry in the open waters off Papua New Guinea Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012.   (AP Photo/Post Courier)

Rescuers have managed to find 238 survivors of the ferry that sank off Papua New Guinea yesterday and get them to safety—but that still leaves 112 of the 350 who were aboard the Rabaul Queen unaccounted for, the New York Times reports. Search teams, which are using three ships, two helicopters, and a plane, are still looking for the rest, but the weather is making things difficult.

"The sea conditions are pretty rough, and the winds are pretty high," the rescue coordinator says. "But I still remain positive about finding survivors. We still do not know, for example, how many people may have been able to swim ashore." So far no bodies have been found, but they may be trapped within the ferry. (More Papua New Guinea stories.)

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