Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom have expressed concern regarding the maritime accident off the coast of Cebu City in Central Philippines on Friday night.

“When I heard about the incident, I was worried because I have a relative aboard the passenger ship MV Saint Aquinas involved in the mishap,” Edwin Ruga, a Filipino worker in Dammam, told Arab News.

MV Saint Thomas Aquinas, a passenger ship carrying 831 seafarers, collided with the bigger Sulpicio Express 7, a cargo ship, resulting in the death of 40 people.

According to the Philippine Coastal Guard, the incident happened when the two ships collided near Cebu Port. The captain of MV Saint Thomas Aquinas said that the ship sank only minutes after it collided with the Sulpicio Express 7.

“We are sorry for the victims of the accident. We can’t help but feel angry at the people responsible for the collision,” another OFW said.

Filipino workers in Riyadh speculated that there could only be two reasons behind the incident either a human or mechanical error.

“We know little about the incident but I think one of the ships’ captain was under the influence of alcohol because even though the accident happened at night, the crew should have been able to see that there was a ship due to collide with theirs,” a Filipino worker in Zamil told Arab News.

Another OFW said that the problem might have been in the engines of the cargo ship.

Meanwhile, rescue operations were still ongoing in the Cebu waters as of press time. As of now, 629 out of 841 passengers were rescued, while 172 are still missing.