India, Jan. 27 -- A ferry with more than 350 people on board sank early Monday near an island in the southern Philippines, killing at least 15 people, officials said. Rescuers saved at least 316 passengers, and crewmembers retrieved 15 bodies, and a fleet of boats backed by a surveillance plane was carrying out a search and rescue operation for the missing.

Coast guard officials said the cargo and passenger ferry apparently encountered technical problems and sank after midnight. The vessel abruptly tilted to one side and took on water, hurling people into the sea in the darkness, according to a rescued passenger who lost his 6-month-old baby. "My wife lost hold of our baby, and all of us got separated at sea," a distraught Mohamad Khan t...