Police: Bodies of 3 people in RORO vessel accident found

The three people who figured in a roll-on roll-off (RORO) vessel accident off Mindoro last week were confirmed dead after their bodies were found Sunday, police said. SPO1 Bienvenido Magadia of the Bansud town police in Mindoro Oriental said the body of Joanna Marie Tubunggan, 23, was recovered and brought to the town police station. In an interview on dzBB radio Sunday, Magadia said the bodies of Tubunggan’s three-year-old child initially identified as Jonas, and that of a man, were still being retrieved. “Pasahero sila ng Starlight (RORO) mula Roxas, Oriental Mindoro papunta Caticlan (They were all passengers of a Starlight RORO going from Roxas in Oriental Mindoro to Caticlan),” he said. He said an initial investigation showed the child fell into the water from the RORO vessel on May 16. Joanna dove to save the child. The man who saw the incident also dove into the water. Magadia said the man did not appear to be a relative of the Tubunggans. When asked if the RORO’s crew tried to help rescue the passengers, he said they are not aware of any such effort. He also said it is now up to the Coast Guard to determine if the RORO vessel’s crew would be held liable. — LBG, GMA News