Manila - Four people were killed and more than 40 are missing when a motorized wooden boat sank in the eastern Philippines on Tuesday, police said.

The boat was believed to be carrying some 100 people when the accident occurred off Dimasalang town in Masbate province, 420 kilometres south of Manila.

Fifty-four survivors were rescued from the waters, said Senior Superintendent Reuben Sindac, Masbate provincial police commander.

Sindac said the boat was struck by a sudden gust of wind shortly after leaving the port of Dimasalang, causing it to capsize.

"This was just five kilometres from the shoreline," he said.

Police and local fishermen were helping search for those still missing from the accident.

In June, a passenger ferry carrying more than 800 people sank in storm-whipped seas off the nearby island of Romblon. Only 56 people survived in one of the worst maritime accidents in the Philippines. (dpa)