Authorities continued to look for clues to what caused an explosion and fire aboard the Superferry 14 last Friday off Manila. The government says it has found no trace of explosives, casting doubt on a claim by the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf that it put a suicide bomber aboard.
However, the coast guard confirmed that a man identified by the al-Qaida-linked group as the bomber was among the missing, and officials have not ruled out terrorism.
``There is still an investigation going on, but the position of the coast guard is that ... anybody can make (such) a statement,'' coast guard spokesman Lt. Arman Balilo said.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye urged the public to ``not dwell on untoward rumors and scenarios and wait instead for the official report of the investigation.''
So far, four bodies have been recovered, including a pregnant woman and two others on Wednesday. Divers are still combing the wreckage for remains. The ferry had 899 passengers and crew.
The bodies of two women and a man were pulled from the ferry's submerged tourist section, coast guard chief Vice Adm. Arturo Gosingan told reporters at the site.
Along the coast of Manila Bay, where the ferry was lying on one side in shallow water, dozens of relatives aboard a coast guard ship and a commercial vessel went from village to village in hopes that their kin were rescued, but had not been able to contact them.
Despite the Abu Sayyaf's claim of responsibility, officials said there was no indication so far that a bomb caused the blaze.
However, Oscar Sevilla, administrator of the Maritime Industry Authority that conducted the initial probe, said interviews with the passengers and crew showed sabotage was possible.
``The passengers were unanimous in saying there was a very loud blast,'' Sevilla told DZBB radio, adding that the ship's security officials told him that no equipment or chemicals were on board that could have accidentally exploded.
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