Philippines starts searching for 5 missing Hong Kong yacht passengers

The Philippine government has started searching for five people who were reported missing in a yacht near Philippine coast, the Philippine Coast Guard said on Wednesday.

Coast Guard spokesman Armand Balilo said M/Y Europa left Hong Kong on Oct. 2, initially for Subic Bay in Zambales Province.

Due to tropical depression, Mujigae (local name Kabayan) which made a landfall in Aurora Province of norther Philippines on Oct. 1, Balilo said the yacht diverted to Vigan, a northwestern city of the Philippines, and was supposed to arrive there around Sunday, thus it was declared "missing until this time."

Balilo named the people onboard as Robin Wyatt and Brian Turner, both British, Harry Taylor, a Canadian, Alan Lundy, an American, and Rudulph Bolloloz, a Filipino.

Balilo said a Coast Guard aircraft heard a loud emergency transponder about 220 nautical miles west of Laoag City in Ilocos Norte around 1 p.m. local time on Wednesday.

He said the aircraft also saw an oil sleek and a body on a floating orange object but could not immediately say if the body belongs to one of the five missing victims or if the yacht sank in the area.

Personnel could not immediately be sent to the area to recover the bodies.

"It's all indication," said when asked if the bodies seen were among the five missing and if the yacht sank in the area. " Everything is still subject to verification," said Balilo. Endi