Captain of Philippines ferry held

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Authorities in the Philippines have detained the captain of a ferry that overturned on Tuesday.

Forty-two people were killed in the accident and nine others are missing.

Police say the vessel appears to have been overloaded and was operating illegally. They are still looking for the owner of the boat.

More than 100 people were rescued after the ferry capsized in a sudden storm near the central Philippine island of Masbate.

The ferry had been sailing for about 20 minutes in clear weather when a sudden gust caused it to keel over.

Local civil defence chief Raffy Alejandro told AFP that the ferry was carrying 151 passengers and crew, well in excess of the 119 people listed on the manifest.

The bodies of the victims were taken to Dimasalang town, about 5km (three miles) from the accident site, where wailing people began trying to identify missing loved ones.

Maritime accidents are common in the Philippine archipelago due to tropical weather, badly maintained passenger boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations.

Hundreds of people were killed in June, when a 23,000-tonne ferry - Princess of the Stars - capsized during a typhoon off the central island of Sibuyan.

Only 57 passengers and crew of the 850 people aboard survived the accident, making it the worst maritime disaster in the Philippines for 20 years.