2 dead as 2 boats collide off Batangas

MANILA, Philippines — The captain and a crewmember of a water taxi died when the watercraft collided with a passenger boat in the waters off Batangas yesterday.

Capt. Jerome Jeciel, Philippine Coast Guard-Batangas station commander, did not identify the fatalities pending notification of their respective families.

The passengers of the water taxi reportedly included four Filipinos, four Chinese and a Swede.

Initial investigation showed that the Hop & Go 1 water taxi, which departed from Puerto Galera, was on its way to Batangas, when it collided with the MV Ocean Jet 6, with 105 passengers and 19 crewmembers, in Matoco Point. - Arnell Ozaeta