(CNN) - At least 17 people died and 572 others were rescued in the Philippines after a cargo ship collided with a passenger ship.
The incident occurred on the Mactan Channel off Talisay City, Cebu province.
The passenger ship -- MV St. Thomas Aquinas -- was coming from the nearby Butuan City and the cargo ship -- the Sulpicio -- was leaving Cebu for the province of Davao in Mindanao.
The passenger ferry sank. It carried about 692 passengers, based on the initial manifest.
Authorities say there may have been more passengers not on that list. It's also unclear how many people were on the cargo ship.
At least 44 people are in one hospital in Cebu.
The cargo vessel along with Navy, Coast Guard and commercial vessels were helping in the rescue efforts.
Coast Guard officials received a distress call from the passenger ferry around 9 p.m.
One of the worst maritime disasters in world history happened on December 20, 1987, in the Philippines.
Between 1,700 and more than 4,000 people were killed when the ferry Dona Paz collided with the tanker MT Victor. The number of casualties has varied; many claim the Dona Paz was extremely overcrowded.
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