CEBU: Rescuers in helicopters and boats were on Saturday desperately searching for nearly 300 people missing after a ferry sank in the Philippines, with at least 24 already confirmed killed.

The Thomas Aquinas ferry was carrying 870 passengers and crew when it collided with a cargo ship on Friday night in calm waters near the port of Cebu, the Philippines' second biggest city, authorities said.

While 572 people had been rescued by Saturday morning, 274 were still unaccounted for and 24 bodies had been retrieved, Rear Admiral Luis Tuason, vice commandant of the Philippine coastguard, told AFP.

The accident occurred in the mouth of a narrow strait leading into the port between two and three kilometres (1.2-1.8 miles) from shore at 9.00pm (1300 GMT), authorities said.

One survivor, Maribel Manalo, 23, recounted to her brother the horror of suddenly being plunged into the cold water in darkness, and emerging from the chaos without her mother.

"She said there was a banging noise then the boat suddenly started sinking," the brother, Arvin Manalo, told AFP.

"They quickly strapped on life jackets and then jumped into the dark sea. She said they felt like they were pulled under.

"My sister said she pushed our mother up, but they got separated. My sister was rescued. My sister knows how to swim, but my mother does not."

He said their mother, 56, remained missing.

Fifty-eight babies were among the passengers on board the ferry, according to the coastguard, and it was unclear how many of them survived,(AFP)