A nine-year-old girl is confirmed dead while her twin sister has gone missing after a passenger boat capsized off Leyte province in the Philippines on Saturday, April 11.
The sisters were travelling with 10 other people between two districts of Leyte's Abuyog municipality when their boat was struck by strong waves, causing it to capsize while some 300 metres from shore shortly after 08:00 local time on Saturday. Ten of the boat's passengers were safely rescued.
The Philippine Coast Guard learned of the incident that same morning and immediately issued a notice to mariners advising the crews of passing vessels to be on the lookout for the missing children.
The body of one missing girl was found floating in the sea off Abuyog by a resident at around 18:15 on Sunday, April 12, and later recovered. Her identity was confirmed by a relative, authorities said.
The search for the missing girl was still ongoing as of the morning of Monday, April 13.
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