AFP: 20 missing travellers in Sulu waters safe

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) reported Monday that 20 passengers earlier reported missing off the coast of Luuk town in Sulu have been found in Tongkil Island after drifting out into the open sea. Lieutenant Col. Bartolome Bacarro, chief of the AFP public information office, said the information was confirmed by military intelligence agents as well as the Western Mindanao command. "They ran out of gas while they were at sail. According to the report, they drifted towards Tongkil Island," Bacarro said in Filipino. He added that, "Our reports said nobody was injured throughout the ordeal. They ran out of gas that's why they drifted or temporarily could not be found." The passengers disappeared after leaving Luuk town at 1:45 p.m. last Thursday. They were headed for Tongkil. While the recovery of the 20 passengers came as a welcome development, Jolo Councilor Cocoy Tulawie said as many as 32 people on board two motorized outriggers could not be found. Meanwhile, Bacarro denied that the passengers disappeared because of the handiwork of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf bandit group. Asked about the possibility that the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped the seafarers, Bacarro said that, "The mayor of the said place [Tongkil] already gave a statement that the boats ran out of gasoline." "So newspaper reports saying they were abducted are completely false," he said. - GMANews.TV