At least 23 dead as boat capsizes in Philippines

Passengers on the vessel reportedly panicked in strong winds on Laguna Lake

A rescued passenger disembarks at the port in Binangonan, after a passenger boat capsized in Rizal province, Philippines on Thursday. EPA

At least 23 people were killed and six people were missing after a small boat capsized near the Philippines capital Manila on Thursday.

The boat capsized after passengers panicked and ran to the vessel's left side in reaction to a sudden gust of wind, Coast Guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo said.

Rescuers are combing Laguna Lake, 37km south-east of Manila, trying to locate the missing.

It was not immediately clear how many people were on board, but Jose Hernandez, chief of the disaster agency of Binangonan town, said 40 people had been rescued.

The boat was about 45m from land when it capsized, the Coast Guard said.

Boating accidents are common in the Philippines.

Eleven people were rescued on Saturday after the same type of boat – known as a motorbanca – ran aground and sank near Surigao.

Five people were injured when another motorbanca caught fire in the city of Zamboanga in early July, while tourists were left stranded on motorbancas in incidents reported in March, April and May.

The boat incident comes as the northern part of the country grapples with Typhoon Doksuri, which has killed at least six people and displaced thousands on Luzon, the Philippines’ largest and most populous island. It battered the island with gusts of up to 215kph.

Taiwan and coastal cities in China are now bracing for the typhoon to make landfall.

Schools and offices in the Chinese city of Shantou will be closed until the end of Friday, officials said, joining the Taiwanese cities of Kaohsiung and Tainan which have also shut.

Kaohsiung also moved about 300 residents of a mountainous part of the district, according to the semi-official Central News Agency.