epa06402466 Filipino villagers wait for reports as the search and rescue operation of a sunken ship continues, in the coastal town of Infanta, Quezon province, Philippines, 22 December 2017. Rescue teams of the Philippine authorities are searching for seven people missing after a ferry carrying 251 people on board capsized on the east coast of the country, according to news reports. The Philippine Coast Guard said that they have recovered the bodies of two men and two women, while 240 other passengers were rescued by emergency services and fishermen. The MV Mercraft 3 ferry, whose maximum capacity was 286 passengers, capsized the morning of 21 December after departing from the province of Quezon en route to Polillo Island, in the central region of the Philippine archipelago. The coastguard indicated that the accident occurred amid strong swells which, according to the head of the Council for the Reduction of Disasters of Quezon, Juanito Diaz, may have caused a hole in the hull of the ferry. EPA/FRANCIS R. MALASIG