Pesticide found inside ferry; search stopped

MANILA, Philippines -- Ten metric tons of pesticide were found inside the capsized M/V Princess of the Stars, prompting authorities to halt rescue and retrieval operations, officials said.

"Delikado, inabort namin ang retrieval, wala munang divers dahil sa problema ng pesticide [It’s dangerous, we aborted the retrieval, we stopped the divers because of the problem with pesticide]," Vice President Noli De Castro told a news conference at the Department of National Defense Friday.

De Castro said the pesticide cargo belonged to Del Monte Philippines.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque said there were "no observable signs of contamination" from the pesticide, such as fish kill. He said 10 metric tons of the pesticide was in the ship.

But Dr. Lyn Panganiban of the University of the Philippines Toxicology Department, when asked what could happen if all of the 10 metric tons of pesticide would spill into sea, said, “It can be a catastrophe. It is a highly hazardous and toxic chemical.”