Ferry toll - 70 dead, 700 missing

(CNN) - Seventy people have been confirmed dead and more than 700 remain missing more than four days after a ferry capsized in a typhoon off the coast of the Philippines, the country's defense minister said Wednesday.

Forty-eight survivors have been found washed ashore in various places around Sibuyan Island, where the ferry was toppled by Typhoon Fengshen early Saturday morning, said Gilberto Teodoro, who oversees Philippine disaster response and was in Washington coordinating with the U.S. government.

In all, 866 people were aboard the Princess of the Stars - 725 passengers and 141 crew members - Teodoro said.

The U.S. military has sent naval craft from Okinawa and Hawaii to assist the Philippines in relief and search-and-rescue efforts. The U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was in the area Wednesday in support of relief efforts.