18 killed as boat sinks in Brazilian Amazon
At least 18 persons were killed whenever a riverboat sank in the Amazon rainforest region, Brazilian authorities said Monday, as survivors described fleeing the foundering boat in terror.
The ferry was taking passengers up the Jari River, a tributary of the Amazon, when it suddenly started to tip over on Saturday at around dawn.
Authorities said late Monday that beyond the 18 fatalities, that they had rescued 46 survivors and 30 others were still missing - meaning there have been far more people up to speed than initially believed.
Search businesses were ongoing, using helicopters, planes and rescue divers.
The Brazilian navy said it had opened a study into the accident, the reason for which was unknown.
Survivor Vanderleia Monteiro said the boat, the Anna Karoline III, appeared to come across trouble when another boat pulled alongside it and tried to anchor, a common practice for the ferries that travel the Amazon and its tributaries.
Someone screamed, “It’s sinking!” and within minutes the boat was tipping over, she told Brazilian news site G1, after fleeing with her husband and 11- year-old son.
“We escaped through the window and felt our way up the exterior wall of the boat since it tipped over. It had been like something out of a movie,” she said.
“The existing swept us downstream fast, and we saw the boat sinking in the length. Then the other boat rescued us.”
The Anna Karoline III, a two-story river ferry, lay out Friday afternoon from the city of Macapa, the capital of Amapa state in northeastern Brazil.
It was at risk of Santarem, in the neighboring state of Para, in regards to a 36- hour trip. Rescue helicopters took about nine hours to arrive because the region is so remote.
Three of the victims were girls aged between seven and 11, the Amapa state said in a statement.
