PERU: A collision of two river boats in the Amazon in Peru has left at least 11 passengers dead, 6 injured and others missing, according to a government statement.
The accident took place at 05:30 local time on the Huallaga River, in Muyuna on Sunday, when a boat full of passengers crashed into a freight barge amid dense mist at dawn, according to state channel TV Peru.
The crash caused the wooden passenger boat, the Ayachi, to capsize.
“So far there is an undetermined number of missing persons, as well as 11 dead and six injured,” the National Institute of Civil Defense said in a statement.
Firefighters, policemen, and sailors oversee the search for those who disappeared.
Local television footage showed survivors crying on the riverbank as authorities carried some bodies away. Entire families were traveling in the damaged boat, including about 20 children, according to the survivors.
The passengers belonged to a religious community that was returning to the city of Yurimaguas after participating in a vigil in a secluded hamlet in the jungle known as Santa Maria.
